State Champ Radio 1501 Certified Entertainment
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Source: Mike Coppola / Getty / Megan Thee Stallion
1501 Certified Entertainment will no longer be a thorn in the side of Megan Thee Stallion.
Spotted on Vulture via Billboard, the years of back and forth and court battles between Thee Stallion and 1501 Certified Entertainment have finally ended after both parties agreed to “amicably part ways.”
The Houston Hip-Hop star and Carl Crawford’s imprint “mutually reached a confidential settlement to resolve their legal differences,” lawyers revealed to Billboard on October 19.
The terms of the agreement were unavailable in Billboard’s reporting.
The news further confirms Megan Thee Stallion’s newfound independence after revealing to the Hotties that she is no longer on a label and will fund her next project, which seems to be on the way.
To show there is no more ill will between them, Carl Crawford, who wasn’t shy about bumping his gums and attacking his former artist throughout their legal battle, told Billboard that he and his label “wish Megan the very best in her life and career.”
The Road To Freedom Was A Hard-Fought One For Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion’s road to freedom from her now former label was a hard-fought one. The “Big Ole Freak” rapper filed multiple lawsuits against 1501 due to her deal that she alleged was “unconscionable,” with the support of her management, Roc Nation.
In our previous reporting, Thee Stallion accused her former label of trying to sabotage the release of her last project, Traumazine, the final album in her deal, and is owed money from missing royalties.
Thee Stallion’s lawyers even claimed that 1501 was draining its bank accounts to avoid paying Megan Thee Stallion.
The label countered, claiming Thee Stallion owed them money from her tours.
Congrats to Thee Stallion on getting her freedom.
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Photo: Mike Coppola / Getty
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Source: Taylor Hill / Getty / Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion is officially a free agent and is using her money to get her next project out.
On a recent Instagram Live session, Thee Stallion revealed to her loyal Hotties that she has gone independent. No longer having a label means she will be footing the bill to get her next project out.
“This part of my album is definitely very much funded by Megan Thee Stallion because you know we trying to get off… Y’all know what’s the tea,” the Houston Hip-Hop star said.
The “Big Ole Freak” crafter also added that she would be paying for the studio time, music videos, and marketing for the yet-to-be-named project that she could possibly already be teasing in previous IG posts.
“The next s**t y’all about to see ’bout to be all straight from Megan Thee Stallion’s brain and Megan Thee Stallion’s wallet. Yes, we are in my pockets, hotties, so let’s do our big one,” she said.
Megan Thee Stallion & Her Drama With Her Label
The news of Thee Stallion going independent should surprise no one, and she has been engaged in a very public battle with Carl Crawford’s 1501 Certified Entertainment.
The rapper claimed her last project, Traumazine, which has been certified gold by the RIAA, was the previous project to fulfill her contractual obligation.
Crawford argued the project before Traumazine, Something For The Hotties, did not qualify as an album; thus, Megan Thee Stallion did not fulfill her contractual obligations.
Thee Stallion also accused her former label of trying to sabotage her career and acting funny with her money. She was granted a restraining order by a judge in 2022.
The news also has some on social media reacting, being loud and wrong, mainly directing energy towards Roc Nation, which manages Thee Stallion and has nothing to do with funding her music projects.
As long as Thee Stallion is mentally in a good space, we are happy she has finally rid herself of Carl Crawford and 1501 Certified Entertainment.
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Photo: Taylor Hill / Getty
Megan Thee Stallion is hurling new accusations at her record label 1501 Certified Entertainment, including that the company is trying to make itself “judgment-proof” by draining its bank accounts.
In an updated version of her long-running lawsuit, the “Savage” rapper’s lawyers claimed Wednesday that they had unearthed evidence that 1501 founder Carl Crawford had “dissipated millions of dollars held in 1501’s primary bank account,” including funds that will potentially be owed to Stallion.
“Instead of following its financial manager’s advice and holding the contested funds in reserve, 1501 has chosen to enrich itself and its consultants, leaving less than ten thousand dollars in the account,” Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyers wrote. “Based on 1501’s undercapitalization, it is highly probable that 1501 will be judgment-proof by the time Pete is able to obtain a final judgment on the merits of her claims.”
As a result of this “fraudulent transfer of assets,” Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyers demanded that the judge overseeing the case impose extraordinary restrictions while the case continues to play out.
“Pete seeks the appointment of a receiver to take possession of 1501 until this dispute is resolved, or in the alternative, the appointment of a receiver to take possession of all of 1501’s bank accounts and any other bank accounts controlled or owned by Carl Crawford, including the bank accounts to which the money siphoned out of the bank account was transferred into.”
In a statement to Billboard, 1501’s attorneys sharply disputed the new claims from Megan Thee Stallion (real name Megan Pete).
“1501 strongly disagrees with the substance of Ms. Pete’s recent filings,” said Kenneth D. Freundlich of Freundlich Law and LeElle B. Slifer of Winston & Strawn LLP. “The allegations are without merit and we are confident that 1501 will prevail on these motions and ultimately recover the substantial money that Ms. Pete owes 1501.”
A rep for Megan Thee Stallion did not return a request for comment on the new filing.
The star rapper has been fighting with 1501 for more than two years, claiming the company duped a young artist into signing an “unconscionable” record deal in 2018 that was well-below industry standards. Megan Thee Stallion says that when she signed a new management deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in 2019, she got “real lawyers” who helped her see that the deal was “crazy.”
She filed the current case in February 2022, claiming 1501 had wrongly classified her Something For Thee Hotties as something less than an “album” — a key distinction, since she owes a set number of albums under her record deal. 1501 then quickly countersued, arguing that Thee Hotties contained just 29 minutes of original material and obviously did not meet the definition of an “album.”
The two sides then escalated the case last summer. Megan Thee Stallion filed a new complaint seeking more than $1 million in damages over claims that 1501 had “systematically failed” to pay enough royalties. 1501 then fired back with new accusations of its own, claiming it’s actually Megan Thee Stallion who owes “millions of dollars.”
Until Wednesday’s bold new accusations, it had appeared that tempers might actually be cooling. In an interview with TMZ in February, Crawford expressed some regret over his public feuding with Megan Thee Stallion and said he would be “taking a different approach” in the future: “I never had problems with Megan Thee Stallion, but this social media stuff turned it really sour.”
But in addition to Wednesday’s new allegations about 1501’s bank accounts, Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyers also filed a separate motion asking the judge to summarily rule that 1501 had breached its contracts with Megan Thee Stallion. The reason? They say 1501 has chosen to categorically deny all requests to license Megan’s music until the case is resolved — representing a “flagrant breach” of the deal.
“In furtherance of its relentless efforts to sabotage Pete and her career, 1501 has taken the unlawful and unjustifiable position that it will continue to deny every single licensing request until its publishing claim in this litigation is resolved,” Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyers wrote. “1501 has taken this draconian position out of spite, a fact that 1501’s representatives have admitted under oath.”
The judge overseeing the case ruled in December that the battle will ultimately need to be decided by a jury. A trial is currently set for August, but after Wednesday’s new filings it’s unclear if the case will be able to stick to that schedule.
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Source: Prince Williams / Getty / Carl Crawford
Megan Thee Stallion has been out of the spotlight since taking the stand against the man who shot her, Tory Lanez. But she has continued to rack up victories, big and small, against the people who caused her nothing but grief.
Megan Thee Stallion’s battle with her label 1501 Certified Entertainment is no secret. The Houston artist has taken the imprint owned by former Major League Baseball player Carl Crawford to court on numerous occasions claiming the label wouldn’t let her out of her jacked-up deal and even got a restraining order against them.
Crawford has denied all of MTS’ claims against him and his label, but now he is finally copping to being the pest in the entire situation.
Speaking exclusively with TMZ Hip Hop, Crawford admitted that his beef with Megan Thee Stallion and JAY-Z was dumb and only did it for social media attention.
“Me and Megan, we haven’t talked since 2019,” the 41-year-old told the celebrity gossip site. “We’ve been going through, I guess, what you guys see online, and it’s unfortunate because I never wanted to have a situation where I was, you know, going back and forth with her on the internet.”
“You take this social media part out of it, we don’t have a problem … I’m done with that,” he continued. “You not gon’ hear me mention Megan Thee Stallion name in the media unless I’m doing something like this. You not gon’ see me texting or making a post or doing any of that stuff that would cause social media to go crazy.”
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The 1501 Certified Entertainment Owner Sees The Error of His Ways
Crawford is singing a different tune now, but the tension between him and the “Savage” crafter got so bad at one point after hanging out with Tory Lanez in a nightclub in April 2022.
Tory Lanez was recently found guilty on all three charges in the shooting trial of Megan Thee Stallion and is waiting to be sentenced. Crawford called the encounter posted on the label’s Instagram Stories “petty” and another mistake.
“Oh, the thing is with that, I don’t stand with nobody in that situation,” Crawford said. “That’s none of my business. You get caught up in the internet stuff and doing stuff just to — I don’t know if we can just use the word petty, ’cause there’s been a lot of petty stuff going on. […] We all make mistakes. I’m not on nobody’s side with that. I was just… I don’t even know.”
The Hotties Want The Apologies To Megan Thee Stallion To Be Loud
The Hotties, MTS’ loyal fans, have been rolling their eyes following these recent revelations. They have been mainly calling out anyone labeling Megan Thee Stallion a liar following her accusations against the label and Lanez.
You can peep those relations in the gallery below.
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Photo: Prince Williams / Getty
1. Never forget
3. Mmmmhmmmm
A Houston judge ruled late Thursday (Jan. 19) that Megan Thee Stallion’s manager, Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez, must sit for a deposition in the star’s ongoing war with her record company, rejecting Megan’s arguments that the label was “harassing” Perez by seeking to depose her.
For months, the two sides sparred over whether the Roc Nation big wig must answer questions from lawyers for 1501 Certified Entertainment amid Megan’s litigious split with the Houston-based label. The company’s lawyers called Perez “one of the most critical” witnesses in the case; Megan’s lawyers said 1501 was simply trying to “harass” a busy executive who had little pertinent info to share.
In a ruling made public on Thursday afternoon, Judge Robert Schaffer sided with 1501 — denying a motion from Megan’s lawyers seeking a so-called protective order that would have shielded Perez from the deposition. Though he ruled on detailed arguments from both sides, the judge included no written opinion explaining his rationale for the decision.
It’s unclear when such a sit-down between 1501’s lawyers and Perez will take place. A representative for Megan and for Roc Nation did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
The star rapper (real name Megan Pete) has been fighting with 1501 for more than two years, claiming the company duped the young artist into signing an “unconscionable” record deal in 2018 that was well-below industry standards. She says that when she signed a new management deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in 2019, she got “real lawyers” who helped her see that the deal was “crazy.”
That core dispute has mushroomed into additional litigation, with both sides accusing the other of various forms of wrongdoing and claiming millions in damages. A judge ruled in December that the case will need to be decided by a jury trial; a date has not yet been set.
With both sides preparing to make their case, 1501 sought to have Perez sit for a deposition — meaning she would meet with the company’s lawyers and answer questions about Megan’s case under oath. But the rapper’s lawyers quickly threw a challenge flag in November, seeking the protective order that would have shielded Perez from what they called “gamesmanship” by 1501.
Megan’s lawyers pointed to what’s known as the apex doctrine, which limits when high-ranking executives can be forced to give a deposition. (That’s the same rule that Spotify cited last year when it tried to shield CEO Daniel Ek from questioning in a copyright lawsuit.) Under the apex doctrine, busy top officials only need to testify when they have unique info that can’t be derived from other less burdensome sources.
The label quickly fired back in December, arguing that Perez was instead a key “fact witness” who had been “directly, personally, and substantially involved in the underlying facts of the lawsuit.” They claimed she’d had direct conversations about whether Megan’s 2021 release Something for Thee Hotties counted as an “album” under her deal — a central dispute in the case. And they said Perez had personally negotiated one of Megan’s record contracts at issue in the lawsuit.
Attorneys for 1501 declined to comment on the decision on Friday.
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Source: Jerritt Clark / Getty / Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion is not done with court battles. Fresh off of a significant victory in the Tory Lanez trial and getting justice after being shot, she scored another win after a Houston judge sided with her instead of her label, 1501 Certified Entertainment.
Spotted on Billboard, Megan Thee Stallion is heading back to court. Her ongoing legal battle with 1501 Certified Entertainment is heading to a jury trial.
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Back in September, the label asked judge Robert Schaffer to decide a dispute in which Megan Thee Stallion claimed 1501 would not acknowledge her 2021 project Something for Thee Hotties as an album, meaning she had not fulfilled her contract back in September.
Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyers argued that the case should be decided by a jury rather than just a judge, and Schaffer agreed her $1 million lawsuit would proceed to trial.
After rendering his decision, Schaffer said that he was “of the opinion that the motion should be and hereby is denied in its entirety.”
Both Megan Thee Stallion’s & 1501 Certified Entertainment’s Legal Teams Had Something To Say
1501 Certified Entertainment’s legal team pointed out that the judge’s ruling did not resolve the dispute. “There is no amount of discovery that will change the answer to that question,” 1501’s lawyers wrote in their original motion filed in September.
“The court can compare the recording to the contractual requirements for an album and determine that ‘Something for Thee Hotties’ is not an album as a matter of law.”
“Pete should be allowed her day in court to present evidence and testimony to the jury demonstrating that she has done all that was required of her in the delivery and release of her albums,” her legal team said in response.
Roc Nation’s “Real Lawyers” Pointed Out Her Contract With 1501 Was “Crazy”
The 23-year-old Hip-Hop star claimed in her suit that 1501 tricked her into signing an “unconscionable” record deal that fell well below industry standards in 2018.
After linking up with Roc Nation the following year to handle management, she spoke with “real lawyers,” and they pointed out how “crazy” her contract with 1501 is. Thee Stallion also claims Carl Crawford and his imprint have “systematically failed” to pay her royalties.
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Photo: Jerritt Clark / Getty
A Houston judge sided with Megan Thee Stallion on Wednesday in an early skirmish in her legal war with record label 1501 Certified Entertainment, refusing to grant the company a quick victory and ordering the case to instead be decided by a jury.
Megan has long been at odds with the label over a record deal she calls “unconscionable,” but the current battle was filed earlier this year over claims that 1501 was unfairly refusing to count her 2021 Something for Thee Hotties as an “album” to keep her locked into the deal for another release.
In September, 1501 asked a judge to quickly decide that dispute himself — arguing Megan’s contract had a clear definition of “album” and that Thee Hotties obviously didn’t meet it. Megan’s lawyers fought back, saying there were key disputes that need to be decided a jury and that the rapper must be “allowed her day in court.”
On Wednesday, Judge Robert Schaffer sided with Megan in that dispute, denying 1501’s motion and allowing the “album” question to proceed to a jury trial. The ruling came no written explanation, simply saying Schaffer was “of the opinion that the motion should be and hereby is denied in its entirety.” A trial date has not yet been set.
A rep for Megan declined to comment on the ruling. Steven Zager, lead attorney for 1501, told Billboard he disagreed with the judge’s decision but stressed that the ruling had not resolved any issues in either side’s favor.
The star rapper (real name Megan Pete) has been fighting with 1501 for more than two years now, claiming the company duped a young artist into signing an “unconscionable” record deal in 2018 that was well-below industry standards. She says that when she signed a new management deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in 2019, she got “real lawyers” who helped her see that the deal was “crazy.”
She filed the current case in February, claiming 1501 had wrongly classified Thee Hotties as something less than an album — a key distinction, since she owes a set number of albums under the record deal. 1501 quickly countersued, arguing that Thee Hotties contained just only 29 minutes of original material and was obviously not an “album.”
The two sides then escalated the case last summer. Megan filed a new complaint seeking more than $1 million in damages over claims that 1501 had “systematically failed” to pay enough royalties. 1501 then fired back with new accusations of its own, claiming it’s actually Megan who owes “millions of dollars.”
With those other issues still pending, 1501 asked the judge in September for so-called summary judgment on the core dispute — meaning a quick ruling about whether Thee Hotties counted as an album. The company argued there was nothing ambiguous about the contract, and that the judge himself could decide the issue without further proceedings.
“There is no amount of discovery that will change the answer to that question,” 1501’s lawyers wrote at the time. “The court can compare the recording to the contractual requirements for an album and determine that ‘Something for Thee Hotties’ is not an album as a matter of law.”
Megan’s lawyers sharply disagreed. In a response this month, they cited supposed disputes over basic facts, like whether or not 1501 gave approval prior to the release of Thee Hotties, and said those disagreements would need to be sorted out by a jury, not a judge.
“Pete should be allowed her day in court to present evidence and testimony to the jury demonstrating that she has done all that was required of her in the delivery and release of her albums,” her lawyers wrote.
The ongoing legal battle between Megan Thee Stallion and her label 1501 Certified Entertainment has taken another nasty turn around this weekend’s American Music Awards.
According to court documents obtained by Billboard, the “Savage” rapper (born Megan Pete) was granted a restraining order against 1501, along with her distributor 300 Entertainment, after claiming 1501 “unlawfully” took steps “to block or interfere with Pete exploiting, licensing, or publishing her music” in the lead-up to the upcoming AMAs on Sunday (Nov. 20). Filed in Harris County District Court in Texas, the order says Megan “provided evidence” that the company “recently engaged and will continue to engage in threatening and retaliatory behavior that will irreparably harm” her music career.
Without providing further detail on what 1501 or 300 allegedly did, the court notes that it filed an ex parte order — essentially, a type of emergency order granted without waiting for a response from the other side — “because there was not enough time to give notice to Defendants, hold a hearing, and issue a restraining order before the irreparable injury, loss, or damage would occur.” It adds that voting for the AMAs, where Megan is nominated for favorite female hip-hop artist, closes on Monday night (Nov. 14) at midnight, and that Megan “will suffer irreparable harm if her music cannot be used in conjunction with her promotion for the AMAs.”
Under the order, 1501, 300 and anyone acting “in concert or participation with” them are restricted from “preventing or blocking the use and exploitation” of Megan’s music in promotional content for the AMAs, — including by “threatening or otherwise attempting to intimidate or coerce” third parties not to use it — through Nov. 20. It also sets a hearing on Megan’s restraining order request for Nov. 22.
The restraining order is just the latest volley in a more than two-year-old legal battle that began in 2020 when Megan filed a lawsuit alleging that 1501 founder Carl Crawford tricked her into signing an “unconscionable” record deal in 2018 that was well below industry standards. She claims that upon signing a management deal with Jay-Z‘s Roc Nation the following year, she got “real lawyers” who showed her that the 1501 agreement was “crazy.”
In February, Megan filed a separate lawsuit claiming 1501 had refused to count her 2021 Something for Thee Hotties release as an album — a pivotal definition, as her 1501 deal states that she must produce three albums to fulfill her obligations. 1501 quickly countersued, arguing that Thee Hotties included just 29 minutes of original material and therefore didn’t qualify.
In September, Megan filed yet another lawsuit seeking more than $1 million in damages, claiming that 1501 “systematically failed” to pay her the proper amount of royalties she was owed and had “wrongfully allowed for excessive marketing and promotion charges,” in addition to allegations that the label leaked her most recent album Traumazine. In response, attorneys for the label argued it was actually Megan who had failed to pay 1501 its fair share of money she made from endorsements, partnerships and other business deals, as well as requirements related to publishing royalties. They further added that any claims of underpayment of royalties should be redirected to 300 Entertainment.
Representatives from 1501 and 300 did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
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