Ye Can’t Strike Holocaust & Antisemitism References From ‘Vultures 2’ Lawsuit, Judge Rules

A German artist suing Ye (formerly Kanye West ) for copyright infringement will be allowed to cite the rapper’s history of antisemitism and her own family’s ties to the Holocaust as the case moves forward.

A Thursday (Oct.

8) court order, obtained and first reported by Billboard , denied Ye’s motion to strike these references from the lawsuit filed in 2025 by German singer-songwriter Alice Merton .

The case, currently set to go to trial early next year, claims Ye’s 2024 track “Gun to My Head” sampled Merton’s earlier song “Blindside” without permission.

Related How Many Times Has Ye Been Sued Over Sampling? Here’s Every Lawsuit Hilary Duff to Receive Outstanding Pop Tour of the Year Award at 2026 Billboard Live Music Summit Judge Rules Woman Accused of Shooting at Rihanna & A$AP Rocky's Home Mentally Fit to Stand Trial Merton alleges Ye included this sample on a digital deluxe version of Vultures 2 even though she had expressly denied his clearance request months earlier.

Merton says she refused to grant the license for a key reason: as a direct descendant of Holocaust survivors, she did not want to be associated with Ye’s past antisemitic remarks .

Ye’s lawyers sought to remove the references to the Holocaust and antisemitism from the lawsuit, calling them “immaterial, impertinent and scandalous.” But Judge Fernando L.

Aenlle-Rocha denied that motion on Thursday, finding that these details could indeed be relevant.

“The court finds that the allegations concerning Merton’s background or Ye’s alleged remarks are not unduly prejudicial and may have some bearing on the litigation, including potentially at trial to explain Plaintiffs’ rationale for denying Defendants’ use of Plaintiffs’ song,” wrote the judge.

Judge Aenlle-Rocha similarly refused Ye’s request to trim away the complaint’s references to his many prior copyright infringement lawsuits .

The fully intact lawsuit will now move forward through the remaining evidence discovery process.

A jury trial is set to begin in March unless a settlement is reached first.

Reps for Merton and Ye did not immediately return requests for comments on the court order Thursday.

Related Ye Testifies at ‘Donda’ Copyright Trial: ‘A Lot of People Try to Take Advantage of Me’ Ye has been sued more than a dozen times over the years for allegedly using unlicensed samples and interpolations in his music.