Employees have spoken out about what it’s like to work for Kanye West.
Employees claim they were left to deal with the fallout from West’s crumbling empire, according to Rolling Stone. They also claim that West’s frustrations were reflected in his actions toward staffers.
According to nearly 24 former Yeezy, adidas, and Gap collaborators and staffers, it caused workplace tension and contributed to a “abusive” work culture.
According to Rolling Stone, their experiences included “abrupt firings and rolling layoffs, intimidation and humiliation tactics, and a cult-like atmosphere where sycophancy thrived.”
“His anger at us in everyday interactions was just inappropriate, and honestly an HR nightmare,” one adidas Yeezy designer told Rolling Stone.
“He thrives off of chaos,” a former employee said, according to Rolling Stone. “He needs that around to keep him hungry and motivated and all this other stuff.”
“We would call it ‘the billion-dollar startup’ because it truly felt like a startup and a mess,” a staffer said, according to Rolling Stone.
Some employees claimed they were underpaid for their efforts. Some claim it took months for a dollar to appear in their accounts.
According to the outlet, one employee went on a “mini-strike” until they were paid, while others say they are still waiting for their pay.
“I’m not sure he ever realized that people in his orbit weren’t getting paid,” a former Yeezy member explained to Rolling Stone. “I think he just thought, ‘I’m not approving this stuff because I’m pissed for XYZ, so I’m just gonna put a halt on whatever [Adidas] bring[s] to us for payment.’ I really don’t know that he ever looked deep enough to know that it was affecting his own people.”