A new lawsuit seeks financial damages from Ye (formerly Kanye West) over a well-publicized 2024 altercation at Los Angeles’ famed Chateau Marmont, which the rapper later blamed on an alleged sexual assault of his wife, Bianca Censori.
Ye’s alleged victim, using the pseudonym John Doe, sued the rapper for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress in a Monday (April 13) civil complaint in L.A. The man claims he hit his head on a concrete restaurant floor after Ye punched him in the face without any provocation in April 2024 and then “repeatedly punched plaintiff as he lay unconscious on the ground.”
The allegations match contemporaneous reports of an altercation at the Chateau Marmont, which Ye and his reps later said arose because this man had grabbed and sexually assaulted Censori at the venue. However, Monday’s lawsuit claims this explanation is entirely false.
“The evidence, including video recordings from the scene, proves that plaintiff did not engage in any inappropriate or offensive conduct with a woman in defendant’s party, or anyone else,” write John Doe’s lawyers.
According to the lawsuit, Ye smeared the man’s reputation by falsely accusing him of sexual assault, including during a “widely viewed podcast appearance.” Ye spoke about the incident on an April 2024 episode of The Download, reiterating the claims that the man assaulted Censori and joking, “He had to go to bed early.”
Now, John Doe wants Ye to pay for his medical bills from the incident, as well as for the emotional distress and reputational damage he suffered because Ye exposed him to “public scorn, suspicion and ridicule,” according to the complaint.
The Chateau Marmont incident was reported to the Los Angeles Police Department at the time, an LAPD rep told Billboard. No criminal charges were brought.
Reps for Ye and Censori did not immediately return requests for comment on the matter on Tuesday (April 14), nor did a rep for the Chateau Marmont.
Ye’s reps released a statement on the alleged groping of Censori back in 2024, saying, “The assailant didn’t merely collide with her. He put his hands under her dress, directly on her body, he grabbed her waist, he spun her around and then he blew her kisses. She was battered and sexually assaulted.”
