YouTube personality Zach King sued by former producer for sexual harassment, retaliation

article

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - OCTOBER 25: YouTube personality Zach King holds his book 'My Magical Life' at the unveiling of "Cat Luv" Mural at Los Angeles Animal Shelter at The Amanda Foundation on October 25, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Tara

Expand

LOS ANGELES - A former producer for a YouTube personality and illusionist is suing her ex-boss, alleging he portrays himself as having a "Christian persona," but in reality is a "gifted liar" and "narcissist."

Elisabeth Logan's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Zach King and his company, King Studio LLC, alleges wrongful termination, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, retaliation, wage discrimination, failure to prevent harassment discrimination or retaliation and various state Labor Code violations.

Logan seeks unspecified damages in the suit brought Thursday. King could not be immediately reached for comment.

"This case is about the discrimination, abuse and illegal conduct perpetrated and/or condoned by Zachary King in his quest to become a rich and famous social media personality," the suit states.

King, 31, is a social media celebrity who shot to fame performing in magical illusion videos, which are highly staged and edited to appear as if King is performing magic. He has more than 12 million YouTube subscribers, more than 24 million Instagram followers and more than 66 million TikTok followers.

"Zach King falsely attracts brands to work with him based upon a charming, clean-cut, Christian persona," the suit states. "In truth, Mr. King is a gifted liar, a narcissist who believes the rules do not apply to him and a misogynist. Unfortunately, plaintiff Elisabeth Logan found this out the hard way when she began working for Zach King at 23 years old."

King Studio LLC hired Logan as a part-time executive assistant in April 2015 and her initial duties included email management, overseeing day-to- day operations of the office, organizing and maintaining files and records, calendar management, scheduling meetings, appointments and productions, miscellaneous errands and production runs, the suit states.

Within a few months, King -- who like Logan graduated from Biola University in La Mirada -- requested that the plaintiff work full-time for King Studio with promises of opportunities to further her desired producing career in film and television production, according to the suit. She was given the title of producer in February 2016, the suit states.

Get your top stories delivered daily! Sign up for FOX 11’s Fast 5 newsletter. And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.

But throughout 2016 and 2017, King consistently excluded Logan from any involvement in the development of television or film projects, despite his prior promises to the contrary, the suit states.

King sexually harassed Logan throughout her employment -- including by leaving his underwear on her office floor -- and discriminated against her in pay and treatment throughout her employment, paying her less than her male counterparts for substantially similar work, the suit alleges.

Logan also was expected to pick up the slack of her male colleagues, who spent days horsing around or napping, and King questioned Logan's ability to advance in her career because he thought she should be a wife and mother, according to the suit.

"Zach King belittled, verbally attacked and yelled at Ms. Logan for the slightest perceived misstep, while turning a blind eye to male co-workers' grave errors," the suit states.

King fired Logan over Zoom in May 2020 and during the video conference, he acknowledged that the termination would come as a "total surprise" to the plaintiff, the suit states.

While acknowledging that Logan's work was always "great" and "impressive," King said he fired her because she "complained too much," the suit states.

"As part of Mr. King's continuous pattern of misogyny, Mr. King told her to `think of it like a breakup,"' the suit states.

Tune in to FOX 11 Los Angeles for the latest Southern California news.