Bianca Censori\u00a0appeared in a Los Angeles courthouse Thursday to face questions about the Malibu mansion designed by famed Japanese architect Tadao Ando that her husband, Kanye West, purchased for $57 million in 2021 and\u00a0subsequently gutted\u00a0to build what his lawyer called an \u201coff-the-grid\u201d shelter.<\/p>\n
Censori, 31, walked into the courtroom wearing a black satin skirt and black cardigan buttoned all the way up, with her hair pulled back in a tight bun. She smiled at the jury and answered most questions with one-word replies. Asked if her husband, now known as Ye, told her he wanted to build an \u201coff-the-grid bunker,\u201d she pushed back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe he used that language to refer to aesthetics,\u201d she said. \u201cThis was all concepts. The idea that it changed is not necessarily correct. When he would describe ideas, it was holistically his concept. It was always going to be a residence. That was never changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The morning testimony challenged claims from the plaintiff, Tony Saxon, and another witness, handyman Jeromy Holding, that Ye\u2019s plans for the property were constantly shifting. They previously told jurors Ye wanted all plumbing, wiring, toilets, and access to all city utilities removed. Holding said Ye\u2019s\u00a0rotating plans for the home\u00a0included having it serve as an extension of his private school, a bomb shelter, a monastery, a recording studio, and a playground for his kids filled with slides and ramps.<\/p>\n
An architect by training, Censori, 31, has been an enigmatic and largely silent fixture in West\u2019s orbit for years, making her statements mostly through provocative performance art that often incorporates public nudity. She was called to testify at the civil trial after Saxon, a 35-year-old musician, vintage record dealer, and handyman, filed legal claims in 2023 over his seven-week tenure working on the house in late 2021.<\/p>\n
In his lawsuit and courtroom testimony, Saxon has alleged he worked as a project manager and round-the-clock security guard at the contemporary concrete house until he was severely injured and then fired in retaliation for raising safety concerns. He alleges Ye neglected to provide workers\u2019 compensation insurance and is now on the hook for not only unpaid wages but damages related to his medical expenses, loss of earnings, and emotional distress.<\/p>\n
Saxon previously told jurors Censori was working as an architectural consultant on the project in late 2021 while West was still married to\u00a0Kim Kardashian. Saxon said he regularly texted with Censori during that time, asking her advice on dealing with Ye and discussing designs related to slides due to be installed over concrete steps. He said Bianca was present when Ye allegedly tore into him for not ripping out all the home\u2019s electrical wiring fast enough and for pushing back when Ye ordered him to use fuel-powered generators indoors despite the risk of carbon-monoxide poisoning.<\/p>\n
Asked if she ever met two other designers that Saxon brought onto the job, Censori mentioned seeing them on a Zoom call once, possibly related to another project. \u201cMy husband was very interested in this closed-loop city idea,\u201d she explained. \u201cAnybody who would be working on anything architectural would be working on that also.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other testimony, Censori confirmed she has power of attorney over her husband. \u201cI can sign things on his behalf,\u201d she told the jury.<\/p>\n
In a recent interview with\u00a0Vanity Fair, Censori\u00a0broke her silence\u00a0about the Ando house as well as her marriage. \u201cThe thing about destruction is it gives life to something else,\u201d she said of the mansion. \u201cSo, when I would enter that house that was quote, unquote \u2018destroyed,\u2019 bats were living inside of it, and the sea salt had taken over the steel that was in the house and was rusting.\u201d<\/p>\n
She described her public persona and barely-there looks, including a fully transparent dress worn at the 2025 Grammys, as living art of her own invention. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be doing something I didn\u2019t want to do,\u201d she told the magazine, adding that she and her husband work on her outfits together. \u201cIt was like a collaboration. It was never \u2018I was being told to do something.\u2019 If you were married to Gianni Versace, wouldn\u2019t he give you a dress or something?\u201d<\/p>\n
Censori acknowledged to\u00a0Vanity Fair\u00a0that there were moments, during some of Ye\u2019s controversies, when she considered leaving him. She did not specify when. Less than a week after the Grammys, Ye posted on X, formerly Twitter, \u201cI\u2019m a Nazi,\u201d followed by another message that read: \u201cI HAVE DOMINION OVER MY WIFE. THIS AINT NO WOKE AS FEMINIST SHIT. SHES WITH A BILLIONAIRE.\u201d Two days later, he aired a Super Bowl commercial promoting\u00a0Yeezy.com, where shirts emblazoned with swastikas were offered for sale.<\/p>\n
Censori told\u00a0the magazine she sought inpatient treatment to work on herself, while Ye went to rehab and began taking medication. \u201cAll I can do is always just be there and help,\u201d she said. \u201cThis year was a lot like doing CPR for months. I have the love and empathy for him to be able to do that, and I understand that the world doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holding, the other handyman, testified that he almost got fired his first week on the job when he accidentally mistook Kardashian for Censori. \u201cI said, \u2018Oh, I thought you were Bianca,\u2019\u201d Holding recalled. He said the interaction led to an argument between Kardashian and Ye, with Kardashian leaving the home with the couple\u2019s kids. Holding said Ye then called him upstairs to confront him.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most famous women in the world, and you call her by another woman\u2019s name? What say you?\u201d Ye allegedly demanded in a stern voice mimicked on the stand by Holding. \u201cYou did it on purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holding said his face was burning with embarrassment. He offered to leave and never return. \u201cNahhh,\u201d Ye eventually told him, according to the testimony. Holding continued on the job, sometimes exchanging direct messages with Ye, he said. A year later, Ye and Censori got married one month after\u00a0Ye\u2019s divorce from Kardashian\u00a0was finalized.<\/p>\n
Ye\u2019s lawyers have argued Saxon was paid $240,000 for less than two months of work and is now\u00a0trying to defraud Ye\u00a0with claims he was an employee, not an independent contractor. Ye is due to testify before the case goes to the 12-member jury, which only needs agreement among nine members to reach a verdict.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on Rolling Stone.<\/p>\n
More from VIBE.com<\/p>\n
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