Composer claims Ye locked him in high school band room to create an opera in four days

Music director Chase Taylor is bringing a claim of false imprisonment against the rapper formerly known as Kanye West over the rushed 2019 production of a Biblical opera in Wyoming.RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) — A composer has sued the rapper formerly known as Kanye West over claims of fraud and false imprisonment, accusing Ye of locking him in a Wyoming high school for four days to produce an opera.In a lawsuit filed Thursday in North Carolina federal court, composer Chase Taylor claims the controversial hip-hop legend failed to credit him or pay him after he produced two operas in a time crunch.Taylor was hired last-minute to star in an opera called “Nebuchadnezzar,” telling the Biblical story of King Nebuchadnezzar. When Taylor agreed, he was flown out to Cody, Wyoming, where he says he was locked in the band room of Cody High School and told he wouldn’t be allowed to leave until the opera was written, composed, produced and made ready to perform in just four days.As the performance neared, Taylor says he was also told he would need to serve as the project’s music director and teach dozens of people how to perform their roles, in addition to writing the show and learning his part.The musicians “sat and slept on the floor,” Taylor claims, and weren’t given enough food, water, or time to sleep. During the production of “Nebuchadnezzar,” Ye — who did not “meaningfully participate” in the creative process — had personal massages in the band room and hosted meet and greets with locals and press in the rehearsal space, according to Taylor. When the show was less than a day away, Taylor says, Ye fired half of the dancers because “there were too many white people,” demanded rewrites and demoted Taylor’s role in the performance.Taylor claims he composed the opera, ran rehearsals, workshopped the opera with a choir and wrote 12 songs. He adds that Ye’s team assured him he would be paid “top-dollar” for his work, given producer credit and a permanent job as a member of the rapper’s creative team to help with future Bible-inspired operas.Taylor was hired again Dec. 3, 2019, a week after “Nebuchadnezzar” wrapped, to participate in another opera project on the story of Mary. He claims he was given a five-day deadline to write and produce the opera on the story of the nativity, in which Taylor was a featured soloist and instrumentalist. After the opera was performed in California, Taylor was asked to significantly revise “Mary” for a New York show, and then do it again a third time — all without pay, he says.“Throughout the productions, defendants — through their agents — told Taylor that payment would come in the future. The excuses varied — they would pay once the box office cleared; once the finance department approved the budget; once the chaos of the shows calmed down; and so on,” he said in his suit. “While the specifics changed, the overall message stayed the same — keep working; the payments will come later; Kanye has millions, this is no sweat; be a team player; don’t worry. It was only after the work was done and the shows were complete that defendants definitively refused to pay.”Taylor accuses Ye and his businesses of using Taylor’s compositions in performances, concerts and songs without his permission, and without crediting or paying him.“This case tells a story fit for the stage,” Taylor said. “Our characters: a talented artist manipulated by the elite, imprisoned in a fortress, and defrauded by promises of fame and fortune; an arrogant king, publicly fallen from grace, claiming redemption through religion; and a royal guard, desperate to please the king, no matter the cost.”Without his contributions, Taylor says, the operas would not have gone on, as operas normally take years to produce.Taylor is seeking a declaration that he is a copyright owner and author of the 12 songs produced for “Nebuchadnezzar” and another 18 for the “Mary” productions. He also wants compensation for his work, damages for his false imprisonment and a share of profits from the use of the songs.Representatives for defendants did not immediately reply to requests for comment.Ye, who has been the subject of controversy for decades and changed his name in 2021, was ordered to pay his handyman $140,000 earlier this year for lost wages and medical expenses in a workplace dispute over the botched remodel of his Malibu mansion.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads