Kanye West, also known as Ye, is at the center of a new legal battle over a $1.8 million lien tied to his infamous gutted Malibu mansion, as a former project manager seeks payment for work allegedly performed on the oceanfront property. According to the Los Angeles Times and court filings, the dispute stems from a mechanics lien recorded in early 2024 on the Malibu home West purchased in 2021 and later sold at a massive loss, while the current owner reportedly faces foreclosure pressures connected to the troubled property’s finances.[1][3]
The lien was filed by former project manager and security staffer Tony Saxon, who previously sued West in September 2023 for alleged labor violations, nonpayment of services, and disability discrimination related to his work on the Malibu project.[1][2] Saxon placed a mechanics lien for about $1.8 million in January 2024, reportedly to secure compensation for project management and construction-related services on the stripped-down concrete mansion.[1][3] A mechanics lien is a legal tool that allows unpaid contractors or laborers to assert a claim against a property and can ultimately lead to foreclosure if the debt is not resolved.[1][2]
West’s Malibu property has been a financial and legal headache for years. He bought the Tadao Ando–designed concrete home in Malibu for roughly $57.3 million in 2021, then gutted it—removing windows, doors, plumbing, and electricity—and reportedly envisioned the structure as his personal “bomb shelter” or “Batcave.”[1][3][4] In 2024, he sold the unfinished shell to developer Steven Belmont’s Belwood Investments for about $21 million, taking a loss of more than $30 million on the deal.[1][2][3] The property has since been linked to additional legal and financial entanglements, with reports indicating the current owner has faced foreclosure threats as renovation and market issues continue to pile up.[1][3]
According to the Los Angeles Times and AllHipHop, West has fought back in court, alleging the $1.8 million lien was “wrongfully” and “invalidly” placed and that Saxon’s legal team engaged in an aggressive publicity campaign to put pressure on him and chill prospective sales.[1][3][4] A Los Angeles Superior Court judge reportedly granted West’s motion to release the lien from a bond and awarded him attorneys’ fees, though Saxon’s broader claims over unpaid work remain part of the ongoing dispute.[1][3] The saga around the gutted Malibu mansion underscores how one of West’s boldest architectural swings has turned into a prolonged legal and financial mess, intertwining the rapper, his former project manager, and the home’s new owner in a high-stakes battle over millions.
