Musician Chase Taylor has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Ye, formerly Kanye West, held him captive in a Wyoming high school band room to force the completion of the 2019 opera Nebuchadnezzar.
The complaint, filed Wednesday in North Carolina, asserts that Taylor was lured to Cody High School under the impression that he was arriving for rehearsals for a finished production, only to be locked inside and tasked with composing much of the music himself.
According to the lawsuit, Taylor was expected to make the opera “performance-ready in just four days.” The filing claims that the production team secured his compliance by promising producer credit, future work, and lucrative compensation. Taylor alleges that he and over 150 other performers were subjected to abusive conditions, including a lack of sufficient food and water, while musicians were forced to sleep on the floor of the cramped band room.
“Defendants locked the door and ordered Taylor to work until the opera was done,” the lawsuit says.
“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,” the lawsuit alleges, regarding when Taylor requested that the doors be unlocked and that the musicians be provided with appropriate time to sleep.
The legal action also accuses West of fraud regarding the nature of the project. Taylor claims he was persuaded to work at reduced rates based on the assertion that the operas Nebuchadnezzar and Mary were charitable, non-profit religious engagements intended to “save souls.” The complaint alleges that this was false, stating that West and his companies charged for tickets and pocketed the profits.
This filing follows a similar lawsuit brought by musician Willie Alexander, who alleges he was also required to compose the opera from scratch under the same timeframe.
Alexander’s case, which includes claims of misrepresentation and misappropriation of likeness, is pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Ye previously agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle a separate class-action lawsuit involving hundreds of workers from the 2019 production, a settlement that received final approval in July 2025.
