Kanye West has been sued for assault over an altercation with a photographer earlier this year where he snatched and tossed their phone.
According to TMZ Ye is being sued by Nichol Lechmanik, who claims she feared for her life and was left “traumatized and humiliated” by Yeezy during the incident.
Lechmanik further claims that she lost out on income by not having her phone.
Footage of the incident was captured by Lechmanik’s business partner on January 27, and showed Kanye approaching her car window after he and his wife Bianca Censori were being tailed. The Yeezy mogul also flashed what Lechmanik called a “death stare” in her direction.
“You all ain’t gonna run up on me like that,” Ye can be heard telling her in the clip. “If I say stop, stop with your cameras.”
Kanye West then proceeded to rip the phone out of Lechmanik’s hands and toss it in the street, with the photographer claiming it landed into oncoming traffic.
Lechmanik filed a police report and law enforcement looked into the possible battery, but eventually cleared Kanye on all charges. The Ventura Co. District Attorney’s Office revealed the phone wasn’t broken and the $30 case only suffered minor damage to the outside.
In her lawsuit, Lechmanik is suing Kanye for assault, battery and negligence and is seeking an injunction banning the embattled Chicago native from interacting with any photographers.
This is far from the only lawsuit Kanye will have to fight in 2023. Last month, West was ordered to cough up $300,000 to a frustrated creative director who claimed she was never paid for a photo shoot.
The allegations were made by Katelyn Mooney, a Brooklyn-based creative director, who filed a suit against Ye’s Yeezy Inc. for allegedly failing to pay her for a last-minute shoot he booked back in September.
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