West's team claims the ruling is 'humiliating' for the plaintiff, arguing they should have received no attorney fees at all despite the jury verdict.
Jurors were unimpressed by Ye's courtroom behavior, with one stating he looked at them 'contemptuously' and another confirming he appeared to fall asleep on the stand.
Judge Brock Hammond ordered $147,000 in attorney fees and $34,433.93 in costs on October 14, 2026. The original jury verdict awarded Tony Saxon $140,000 in damages.
The receipts don't lie: Ye lost the case, lost the appeal on fees, and apparently lost consciousness on the stand. This Malibu money pit is getting expensive.
The bill for Kanye West’s Malibu mansion drama just got significantly heavier. In a new ruling obtained by Rolling Stone, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Brock Hammond has ordered the rapper, now known as Ye, to pay an additional $181,433 in legal costs to plaintiff Tony Saxon. This sum includes $147,000 in attorneys’ fees and $34,433.93 in court costs, awarded to West Coast Trial Lawyers. The ruling comes seven months after a jury found West liable for $140,000 in damages to Saxon, who claimed he suffered serious injuries while working on West’s property. While Saxon’s attorney Ron Zambrano challenged the judge’s initial tentative amount as too low, prompting a reconsideration, Zambrano still noted that the final award didn’t fully reflect the value his team brought to secure the verdict. The courtroom behavior of Ye during the trial has become a major point of contention among those who witnessed it firsthand. Jurors spoke candidly to Rolling Stone about West’s demeanor on the witness stand, describing it as contemptuous and disengaged. One female juror stated, "He looked at us contemptuously. It was just a waste of our time. Either he was just bored, or he was falling asleep on the stand. Both are bad options." A male juror confirmed the observation, saying, "Oh, he fell asleep. I saw it." This lack of engagement seemingly didn't help West’s case, especially given that the jury meticulously analyzed financial records to determine that West and Saxon had essentially broken even regarding the $240,000 West wired to Saxon in late 2021. The dispute centers on West’s $57 million Malibu beach home, purchased in 2021 and designed by prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Saxon testified that West ordered workers to gut the luxury property, removing plumbing, toilets, fixtures, cabinets, electrical systems, and a built-in concrete fireplace to turn it into an off-the-grid bunker. Saxon, who claimed he was misclassified as an independent contractor, alleged he severely injured his back and neck during this chaotic renovation. He argued that West failed to secure workers’ compensation coverage. Despite Saxon asking for $1.7 million in compensatory damages, the jury awarded only $100,000 for past and future medical expenses and $40,000 for past pain and suffering, declining to award damages for future pain and suffering or punitive damages. They also found no evidence of "malice, oppression, or fraud" by West. West’s wife, Bianca Censori, an architect from Australia who worked on the project, testified about the bizarre design choices West demanded. She described West’s aversion to stairs and windows, noting his preference for "ramps and slides" and using "mesh as the barrier between indoor and out." Censori also mentioned that Saxon claimed to be a licensed contractor, a statement Saxon denied. The financial fallout for West continues to mount; after gutting the property, he sold it three years later for just $21 million, a staggering $36 million loss from his purchase price. West’s spokesman gloated over the fee ruling, calling it "humiliating" for Saxon’s side, but the reality is that West’s lawyers had argued Saxon should receive zero attorney fees. West is currently appealing the $140,000 judgment, but with these new costs attached, the tab for this Malibu nightmare is closing in on a quarter of a million dollars before the appeal even concludes.
