Kanye West Accused of Holding Musicians Against Their Will to Finish 2019 Opera
· Vice
On Wednesday, November 11, 2026, a lawsuit was filed in North Carolina by a musician named Chase Taylor. He filed the lawsuit against Kanye West for allegedly holding the musician against his will in an attempt to quickly finish his 2019 biblical opera, Nebuchadnezzar. Initially, Taylor assumed the project was much further along than it turned out to be. Less than a week before the production’s premiere at the Hollywood Bowl, Taylor arrived in Wyoming. He was brought to a high school band room where he was made aware that the project was far from finished.
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The lawsuit claims that Taylor was expected to make the production “performance-ready in just four days.” Rolling Stone reported that the lawsuit states, “Defendants locked the door and ordered Taylor to work until the opera was done. To secure Taylor’s compliance, defendants including West promised lucrative compensation, producer credit, and future work.”
It also states that “Taylor objected to the abusive conditions and asked defendants (through West’s producer) to unlock the band room doors, provide sufficient food and water, and provide appropriate time off for the musicians to sleep. Defendants ignored these requests.”
False Promises From West
West and collaborators promised “lucrative compensation, producer credit, and future work”, which never came true. In fact, Taylor has alleged that West lifted his compositions and arrangements and used them in other songs. Without Taylor’s permission, these compositions and arrangements were used on Travis Scott’s “Telekinesis” in 2019, co-written by West.
A little over a year ago, another lawsuit over the biblical opera occurred. In October 2024, musician and composer Willie Alexander filed a lawsuit against Kanye West. The lawsuit alleged negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of his likeness, and false promises.
His dispute parallels that of Taylor’s, claiming he was brought on thinking the project was further along than it is. In fact, it hadn’t been written at all. Again, he was expected to make the production happen in only five days. He also didn’t expect his work to appear in later Kanye West projects. In this case, a settlement conference is scheduled for January 12, 2027. Also, in July 2025, Kanye West agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle a class action lawsuit involving hundreds of performers and workers from the production.
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