The Young Money leader is seeking over $40 million from Universal, which he claims fails to pay him for discovering and nurturing the likes of Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga.
- Mar 29, 2016
AceShowbiz - A year after suing Cash Money, Lil Wayne finds himself in another legal drama, this time with the label's distributor Universal Music Group. The rapper is suing the company as he believes that it's been withholding profits he's earned from artists signed to Young Money.
Wayne's attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against UMG and SoundExchange on Monday, March 28. In the suit obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, he claims he hasn't been paid for discovering and nurturing the likes of Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga. He alleges that Universal is repaying its own debts with Young Money royalties following the $100 million advance it gave Cash Money years ago.
"With Universal's knowledge of Lil Wayne's rights to partial ownership and profits from those artists, Universal and Cash Money entered into a series of agreements which, among other things, diverted Lil Wayne's substantial profits to repay debts of Cash Money," Wayne's suit states.
"As a result, 100|percent| of the profits that should have been paid to Lil Wayne as a result of his ownership of Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga records have been seized by Universal to repay debts that were neither incurred by nor were the obligations of Lil Wayne," it continued. Wayne is seeking over $40 million in damages.
Universal has responded to the lawsuit. In a statement, they say the claims are entirely without merit. "It should be no surprise that we learned of the lawyer's complaint through the news media," a spokesman writes. "We don't intend to dignify this with further public comment except to say that we will vigorously contest it and that the merits of our case will carry the day."
