State Champ Radio Lawsuit
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MTV owner Viacom has filed a lawsuit claiming that Nick Cannon’s new comedy battle rap game show — called Bad vs. Wild — is a “flagrant” copycat of his long-running series Wild ’N Out.
In a case filed Monday (Feb. 7) against the streaming service Zeus Network, the cable giant claimed that the new show “goes far beyond mere imitation” and instead steals “each and every” element of Wild ’N Out, a popular hip-hop comedy show that’s aired for more than 20 seasons on MTV and VH1.
The lawsuit doesn’t name Cannon as a defendant but instead accuses Zeus of essentially poaching him. It says the new show is “cosplaying” as a Wild ‘N Out “successor,” profiting from Viacom’s years-long investment “without having to do the work of creating original content itself.”
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“In an era where original content is at a premium, Zeus has chosen the path of least resistance: stealing the fruits of Viacom’s goodwill and decades of labor and innovation, and pawning it off as its own original idea for its own financial gain,” Viacom’s lawyers wrote.
Worse yet, the lawsuit says, episodes of Bad vs. Wild (which debuted in March) have repeatedly featured “offensive and inappropriate content that glorifies violence, objectifies women, and perpetuates insidious stereotypes,” threatening to tarnish the legacy of Wild ‘N Out.
“The potential damage to Viacom and Wild ‘N Out cannot be overstated,” the company’s lawyers continued. “This blatant copying and association with offensive content threaten to erode two decades of Viacom’s carefully built reputation and goodwill. It is an attack not just on Viacom’s intellectual property, but on its very brand identity.”
The lawsuit accuses Zeus of infringing both Viacom’s copyrights to the show and also its trademarks, saying that consumers have been duped into thinking the two shows are somehow connected. The filing cites a press release that explicitly referred to the show as “Wild ‘N Out on steroids.”
Wild ’N Out, which debuted on MTV in 2005, features teams of comedy and hip-hop stars battling in a series of competitions, capped off by a freestyle battle and then a musical performance. Over the years — the show has run for 21 seasons — it has boasted guests including Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, A$AP Rocky and Lil Wayne.
In this week’s lawsuit, Viacom claimed that Zeus had stolen almost all of the show’s core elements when it created Bad v. Wild. The two names are “extremely similar”; the new logo “copies the look, typeface, and arrangement”; the format and stage design of the two shows are “nearly identical”; and, of course, they feature the same host.
“Zeus enlists Mr. Cannon as host of a show that maliciously infringes upon the intellectual property of Wild ‘N Out … and has tainted Mr. Cannon’s image as on-camera talent for Wild ‘N Out,” Viacom’s lawyers wrote.
Though it doesn’t name him as defendant, the lawsuit does accuse Cannon of wrongdoing.
Viacom’s lawyers say he’s currently subject to his contract from Wild, which prohibits him from doing anything that that would “tarnish” his image as the show’s host and bans him from using “any characters or materials” from the show in other projects. By producing and hosting Bad v. Wild, the lawsuit says Cannon has violated that agreement.
But rather than sue Cannon directly for that alleged breach of contract, the lawsuit instead pins the legal blame entirely on Zeus — accusing the network of “intentional interference” with Viacom’s deal with Cannon by “inducing” him to break it. And the company claims it’s not the first time.
“Zeus — having previously violated exclusivity provisions when working with Viacom talent, and having knowledge of industry custom and practice — was aware that Mr. Cannon is under contract,” the company’s lawyers wrote. “The damage caused by Zeus’s interference with Mr. Cannon’s contract is magnified by the wave of negative publicity which emanated from Zeus’s unoriginal content and colorist and sizeist stereotyping.”
Reps for both Zeus and Cannon did not immediately return requests for comment.
Read the entire complaint here:
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been hit with a pair of new sexual assault lawsuits that allege he drugged and sexually assaulted the plaintiffs and/or forced them to engage in sex acts with others during a “group-sex” party at Trump Hotel in midtown Manhattan.
Filed in New York state court on Tuesday (Feb. 4), the lawsuits — the latest to be lodged by Texas attorney Tony Buzbee against the disgraced hip-hop mogul — were filed by Jane Doe plaintiffs who say they were involved in the New York hip-hop scene in the ’80s and ’90s.
The first complaint was filed by a woman who says she was “an active member of New York’s hip-hop industry from the 1980s onward” and “appeared in numerous music videos for varying hip hop artists, was employed as a hip hop dancer for live productions, as well as having roles in major motion pictures.” According to the complaint, she was subject to “sexual assault, coercion, abuse and violence either at the hands of, or direction of Combs” on numerous occasions.
In the first alleged incident, the woman claims she was drugged and “forced to participate in group sexual activity” with Combs and others while attending (and being prevented from leaving) a so-called “shadow party” held at a New York bar sometime in the 1990s.
Later in the decade, while allegedly dating Combs’ security guard, the woman says she attended another of Combs’ parties at the five-story New York nightclub Limelight, where she says “group-sex parties” were occurring on the top two floors. After the party, she claims Combs and the security guard took her and a friend to a penthouse at a Trump hotel in midtown Manhattan, where she says she was “physically and sexually assaulted” by the guard as Combs watched. Later that evening, she claims she and her friend were forced to take “ecstasy or [a] similar ‘party’ drug” and “engage in a group sex activity that [they] did not want to participate in.”
This alleged incident is echoed in the second lawsuit filed on Tuesday by a woman who claims she was “a part of the hip-hop scene that was developing in New York City” in the ’80s and ’90s and “appeared in numerous music videos for various hip-hop artists and participated in other projects within the industry.”
After attending a party also allegedly held at the Limelight — which reads like the same event described by the first plaintiff — the woman claims she and a friend were taken to the Trump Hotel in midtown Manhattan against their will, drugged “and forced to participate in group-sex activity during which she [was] sexually assaulted over the next several hours. For instance, Plaintiff was vaginally raped by a club promoter at Combs’ direction, while Combs observed.”
The woman also outlines a second incident she says occurred after she was hired to serve as a “bottle-service attendant” at a party Combs hosted in the Hamptons in 1997. Shortly after arriving at the event, the woman says she and others hired for the event were encouraged by Combs to drink from coolers and offered marijuana, after which she “began to feel woozy, slipping in and out of consciousness.” At this point, she says she was “sexually assaulted and vaginally raped by Combs’ associates, at Combs’ direction, while Combs was present.” After suspecting the assault was videotaped, she says she reached out to Combs “to request that he delete the video, but Combs refused to comply.”
The woman further alleges she “suffered several incidences of sexual assault at Combs’ hands while traveling to other states, including California,” though only the New York incidents are included in the complaint.
Both women are asking for compensatory and punitive damages from Combs and his various Combs Global businesses, which are named as co-defendants for “enabl[ing]” the alleged abuse.
A representative for Combs and Combs Global did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
Combs is currently awaiting the start of his criminal trial, which is set to commence on May 5, at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. He is charged with running a criminal enterprise aimed at satisfying his need for “sexual gratification.” Among other accusations, Combs is alleged to have held so-called “freak offs” during which he and others drugged victims and coerced them into having sex. He is also accused of acts of violence and intimidation to silence his alleged victims. Combs faces a potential life prison sentence if convicted on all charges.
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TDE, also known as Top Dawg Entertainment and the label Kendrick Lamar was once signed to, is the target of sexual misconduct allegations after two women filed a lawsuit against the label. The lawsuit claims that TDE executives and other connected officials allegedly harassed, sexually assaulted, and breached contracts.
Via a report from Newsweek, a pair of unnamed women shared in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) executives and staff members carried out the aforementioned alleged acts and that those in charge ignored their concerns and neglected to address them. The Jane Does wrote in the suit that a “pervasive culture of sexual harassment within TDE, implicating some of its highest-ranking executives.”
The first Jane Doe says she was employed by the label in 2019 and accused chief marketing officer Brandon Tiffith, also known as Big B The Chef, of sexual battery along with making undesirable sexual advances. Jane Doe added that TDE president Anthony Tiffith, Jr., also known as Moosa, and is the son of the label’s father “Top Dawg,” sexually harassed her. Beyond those claims, Jane Doe says the label neglected to honor her contract for services rendered.
The second Jane Doe wrote that she endured several moments of sexual harassment and assault from label staff members while working on site. Jane Doe also claimed she was made to drink alcohol while under the legal age with the aim of “sexual exploitation.”
Both Jane Does retained the services of attorney Shounak Dharap of Arns Davis Law, who offered a statement regarding the matter.
“This lawsuit presents a glaring example of the systemic abuse and exploitation in the entertainment industry,” Dharap said to the outlet. “Our clients trusted TDE to act with integrity and professionalism. Instead, their trust was betrayed in profoundly damaging ways. They’re bringing this lawsuit because they refuse to be silenced, and because they intend to hold TDE accountable in court.”
Newsweek several mentions of artists currently signed to the label and of Kendrick Lamar, who went on to begin his imprint, pgLang, with Dave Free in 2020. The lawsuit filing is a curious one considering Lamar has made several unfounded allegations regarding his rival Drake that include sexual harassment and targeting young women.
There has not been an official statement from the label as of yet.
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Tony Buzbee’s character is now again in question. Jay-Z has blasted the lawyer for not meeting his client prior to filing the lawsuit against him.
As per TMZ, Jay-Z’s legal team is taking umbrage with how Tony Buzbee goes about his business. In documents obtained by the celebrity gossip site Hov’s counsel call out that the controversial lawyer never met Jane Doe before filing a sexual assault claim against the rapper and Diddy. The new filing says the Texas-based attorney blatantly missed several “factual inconsistencies” in her story and much more.
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“Initially, he deflected, saying Plaintiff’s ‘case was referred to [his] firm by another, who vetted it prior to sending it’ to him, and that his firm would ‘continue to vet her claims and collect corroborating data,” the documentation reads. “Now, he concedes that he did not even meet with Plaintiff before signing his name to the complaint, and fails to identify any evidence that corroborates anything his client alleged.”
Jay-Z’s lawyer also went on to question Buzbee’s business principles. “Mr. Carter seeks only to hold Mr. Buzbee to the ethical standards that constrain any responsible attorney who would solemnly sign his name to allegations in court.” TMZ contacted Tony about the suit against him to which he called “weak and desperate.” He also says that he not only interviewed Jane Doe prior to filing the rape lawsuit against Jay-Z and Diddy but four other lawyers did too.
Back in December an unidentified woman claimed that she was sexually assaulted by both moguls at an MTV Video Music Awards after-party back in 2000. During an interview with NBC News there were several inconsistencies in her responses related to the timing, her father picking her up and individuals she spoke to that day.
A Detroit rapper is suing Lyft for discrimination over allegations that one of the company’s drivers told her she was too large to fit inside his car.
In a lawsuit filed in Michigan court Monday (Jan. 27), Dank Demoss (Dajua Blanding) says the driver of a black Mercedes sedan told her during the Jan. 18 incident that she was “too big” for the backseat of his car and that “his tires were not capable of supporting plaintiff’s weight.”
“Defendant Lyft … unlawfully discriminated against plaintiff based on her weight,” Blanding’s attorneys write in the lawsuit, which was obtained by Billboard. Blanding, who has described herself as a “Big Beautiful Woman” on social media, says she was embarrassed, humiliated and suffered “mental anguish.”
The lawsuit comes after Blanding posted an alleged video of the incident to TikTok and other platforms, showing her arguing with the driver over his seeming refusal to take her.
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In the video, she can be heard telling the driver, “I can fit in this car,” after which he quickly responds, “Believe me, you can’t.” After telling Blanding that he’s “been in this situation before,” the driver can be heard saying that she needs to order a pricier “Uber XL” to accommodate her size.
Blanding’s post on TikTok has been viewed more than 345,000 times; another clip on Instagram has been liked more than 7,000 times.
In her complaint filed Monday, Blanding says the driver’s refusal violates Michigan’s civil rights laws, which prohibit any discrimination for public accommodations based on a variety of factors, including a person’s weight.
“Plaintiff’s weight was at least one factor that made a difference in defendants’ treatment of plaintiff and subjected her to a hostile environment,” her lawyers write.
In a statement to Billboard, a Lyft spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of a pending legal action, but stressed that its driver regulations “explicitly prohibit harassment or discrimination.”
“Lyft unequivocally condemns all forms of discrimination — we believe in a community where everyone is treated with equal respect and mutual kindness,” the company said.
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We are not even a month into 2025 and Jim Jones keeps going viral. Capo says he sees nothing wrong with Drake suing Universal Music Group.
As spotted on HipHopDX Jim Jones recently paid a visit to the Broke N’ Frontin podcast. While he discussed a variety of topics regarding his career, the music industry and more it was his very hot take about Champagne Papi that took many people by surprise. “He’s not snitching on nobody. He’s not in a court of law, he’s not personally suing Kendrick Lamar, which everybody seems to think that this lawsuit is about,” he explained. “He’s suing UMG, which is the biggest company that has the biggest bag, n***a.”
Jomo went on to remind everyone that the lines behind this lawsuit have been blurred in the media and made sure to clarify that Drake is not suing Kendrick Lamar. “Y’all associating motherf***ing brussel sprouts with apples. It’s two totally different things. If it was any other thing, I would call a red flag. But this has got no reflection of the street or rap culture.” To hear Jim Jones tell it the Hip-Hop community should be happy for Drake if he is successful in this legal battle. “When Tracy Morgan caught that bag, we were happy for him. So how the f*** we not going be happy about somebody getting a bag from one of the biggest companies that’s been raping everybody anyway?”
You can see Jim Jones discuss Drake, Harlem, Cam’ron and more below.
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have joined more than 20 other property owners in suing the City of Los Angeles and the L.A. Department of Water and Power, claiming the city’s decision to “drain” a local reservoir left firefighters without enough water to fight the devastating Palisades Fire that destroyed their home.
In the complaint, which was filed Tuesday (Jan. 21), Pratt, Montag and their co-plaintiffs accuse L.A.’s Department of Water and Power (LADWP) of making “the conscious decision to operate the water supply system with the reservoir drained and unusable as a ‘cost-saving’ measure,” leading hydrants in the Pacific Palisades to “fail…within a span of 12 hours” because the tanks that fed them were not replenished by water from the “empty” Santa Ynez Reservoir.
The lawsuit cites multiple public officials, including Los Angeles County Public Works director Mark Pestrella, for allegedly acknowledging the failures that led to the fire’s uncontrolled spread through a heavily populated area. It claims that “Defendants also designed the water system for public use such that it would not have enough water pressure to fight an urban fire” despite knowing the region was prone to destructive blazes.
“LADWP and City of Los Angeles had a duty to properly construct, inspect, maintain and operate its water supply system,” reads the complaint, filed by attorneys Peter McNulty, Brett Rosenthal and E. Kirk Wood. “The Palisades Fire was an inescapable and unavoidable consequence of the water supply system operated by LADWP and City of Los Angeles as it was planned and constructed. The system necessarily failed, and this failure was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiffs to suffer the losses alleged in this Complaint.”
A key reason for the city and the LADWP’s failure, according to the suit, was its stated decision to leave the reservoir “empty for nearly a year” in order “to seek contractor bids rather than using in-house personnel to repair” it.
“This stated public purpose was far outweighed by the substantial risk posed to Pacific Palisades by wildfires,” the complaint continues. “The degree of damage that resulted from the Palisades Fire far outweighed any benefit that could have been realized by outsourcing and delaying repairs to the Santa Ynez Reservoir.”
Montag, Pratt and their co-plaintiffs are seeking damages including “costs of repair, depreciation, and/or replacement of damaged, destroyed, and/or lost personal and/or real property” and “loss of wages, earning capacity, and/or business profits or proceeds and/or any related business interruption losses and displacement expenses,” among other relief.
The City of Los Angeles and the LADWP did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.
Pratt became a ubiquitous presence on TikTok earlier this month after his and Montag’s home was destroyed in the massive Palisades Fire, with the reality star encouraging fans to stream Montag’s 2010 album Superficial to help them recover from their losses. Thanks to those efforts, Superficial and its songs have appeared on multiple Billboard charts. This week, the album notched a No. 54 debut on the Billboard 200 with more than 15,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. the week ending Jan. 16, according to Luminate, with more than 3.5 million on-demand official streams in the tracking week and 12,000 downloads sold.
Since breaking out on Jan. 7, the ongoing Palisades Fire has burned more than 23,000 acres, destroyed more than 6,000 structures and killed 11 people. It is now 72% contained. A second blaze, the Eaton Fire in Altadena, has burned more than 14,000 acres, destroyed more than 9,000 structures and killed 17. That fire is now at 95% containment.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has sued a man he says defamed him by falsely alleging he possessed videos of the embattled hip-hop mogul committing sexual assault, causing him “profound reputational and economic injury and severe prejudice” ahead of his criminal trial.
In the complaint, filed in New York federal court on Wednesday (Jan. 22), Combs accuses Courtney Burgess, along with Burgess’ attorney Ariel Mitchell, of “pretending they have proof that Mr. Combs engaged in heinous acts, knowing that no such proof exists” — thereby leading “millions of people … to believe in the made-up ‘evidence’ that Defendants have falsely described and vouched for.”
Mitchell notably represents several of Combs’ accusers.
“Defendant Burgess falsely claimed that he possessed videos of Mr. Combs involved in the sexual assault of celebrities and minors,” write Combs’ attorneys Michael Termonte, Erica Wolff and Anna Estevao of the New York firm Sher Tremonte. They add that Mitchell then “repeated those lies” to media outlets while knowing all along that Burgess’ claims “were false, or at a minimum was utterly reckless in disregarding their falsity.” The complaint accuses both Burgess and Mitchell of seeking “to capitalize on the resulting publicity for financial gain” despite knowing that “no such tapes exist.”
Also named as a defendant in the lawsuit is cable network NewsNation, which the lawsuit claims “recklessly repeated and amplifed [Burgess’] lies as if they were true” without ever reaching out to Combs’ representatives for comment or verifying that the alleged videotapes existed in the first place.
To bolster their case, Combs’ attorneys attempt to discredit Burgess by referring to him as “a fringe character” who claims to have worked in the music industry “for decades” even though “there exists no public record of any professional achievements and he left no detectable footprint on the industry prior to his recent campaign to malign Mr. Combs.” They further allege that despite Burgess’ claims that he received the alleged videos from Combs’ late ex-girlfriend Kim Porter, he in fact had “no more than a passing acquaintance” with her.
Combs’ attorneys also claim that Burgess tried to capitalize on the highly publicized allegations swirling around Combs by posting a memoir allegedly written by Porter to Amazon, which they say later pulled the book after it “was denounced by Ms. Porter’s family and others as a fake,” according to the suit.
The lawsuit equally tries to discredit Mitchell — known for filing sexual assault cases against powerful men including Trey Songz, Chris Brown and Combs himself — by claiming her cases against Songz and Brown were disproven and that in “peddling false claims to media outlets” like NewsNation about the alleged videotapes of Combs, she “insisted on valuable benefits and payments in exchange for interviews, including first class air travel, four-star hotel accommodations, hair and makeup allowances, and a ‘materials fee’ for copies of, among other things, demand letters sent on behalf of one of her clients who sued Mr. Combs.”
They add that Mitchell spread her alleged lies about Combs far and wide, including in multiple NewsNation appearances and in a documentary about Combs titled The Making of a Bad Boy that aired on NBC’s Peacock streaming service earlier this month. (NBC is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.)
“Defendants made these false and defamatory statements in bad faith, as part of a deliberate effort to damage Mr. Combs’s reputation, undermine his businesses and, by painting him as debauched and a pedophile, to poison the public’s perception of him and deprive him of a fair trial,” Combs’ attorneys conclude.
Combs is asking for “not less” than $50 million in damages.
Burgess, Mitchell and NewsNation did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.
Combs is currently imprisoned at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ahead of his criminal trial, which is set to kick off on May 5. He is charged with running a multi-faceted criminal enterprise in order to satisfy his need for “sexual gratification.” Among other accusations, he is alleged to have held so-called “freak off” parties, during which he and others drugged victims and coerced them into having sex. He faces a potential life prison sentence if convicted on all charges.
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Tekashi 6ix9ine is looking to be compensated for the injuries he suffered at LA Fitness. The infamous rapper has field a lawsuit against the chain and is seeking seven figures in damages.
As reported by XXL Magazine the rapper turned federal informant is suing the Irvine, CA. based company over an incident that took place in 2023. While finishing up a workout at their Lake Worth, Fl. location he was attacked by three men in the bathroom. He was left bloody with visible injuries to his face. While it is unclear why they assaulted him it is speculated the individuals took issue with him taking the stand on his former associates and gang affiliates the Nine Trey Gangsters.
On Wednesday, Jan. 15 he filed legal complaint and named Fitness International LLC., which operates as LA Fitness, as the defendant. In the paperwork 6ix9ine alleges the gym chain “knew or should have known that LA Fitness was located in an area where crime statistics, including violent crime had increased substantially in recent years.” The document would also read that the “defendant had a duty to adopt and implement reasonable security measures commensurate with all attendant circumstances, including the prevalence of criminal activity at LA Fitness and the surround ding area.”
6ix9ine says that as a result of the attack he suffered “bodily injury, pain and suffering, disability, humiliation, medical expenses, loss of income, and diminished quality of life.” He is seeking a million dollars in compensation for his suffering as well as legal fees, etc. LA Fitness has yet to formally respond to the matter. You can read the complaint here.
Tekashi 6ix9ine has filed a lawsuit against LA Fitness, claiming the gym chain is legally responsible for a 2023 “violent assault” in which he was attacked in the sauna at one of the company’s South Florida locations.
In a complaint filed Wednesday (Jan. 15) in Florida court, the controversial rapper (Daniel Hernandez) says LA Fitness owes him more than $1 million in damages over the March 2023 attack by three assailants, which he says left him hospitalized.
Attorneys for Tekashi say the gym failed to prevent the attack, including by “failing to implement reasonable security measures” and taking other steps that might have stopped it.
“As a direct and proximate result of the negligence … Hernandez was brutally beaten, assaulted and robbed, suffered bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering,” his attorneys write.
In the days after the incident, three men — Rafael Medina Jr., 43; Octavious Medina, 23; and Anthony Maldonado, 25 — were arrested and charged with carrying out the attack. According to court records, both Medinas quickly reached plea deals with prosecutors and were released on probation; the charges against Maldonado were later dropped entirely.
In his lawsuit Wednesday, Tekashi said the assailants were members of the Latin Kings criminal gang — and that LA Fitness should have had measures in place to prevent entry of “affiliates of violent gangs” and people with “aggressive and dangerous propensities.”
“Defendant … knew or should have known that LA Fitness was located in an area where crime statistics, including violent crime, had increased substantially in recent years,” his lawyers write. “Defendant had a duty to adopt and implement reasonable security measures commensurate with all attendant circumstances, including the prevalence of criminal activity.”
A representative for LA Fitness did not immediately return a request for comment.
The 2023 attack was hardly Tekashi’s first dust-up with criminal gangs.
Once a rising star in the world of hip-hop and social media, Tekashi was charged in November 2018 with federal racketeering and murder conspiracy charges over his involvement with a New York street gang called Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. Prosecutors claimed the gang “wreaked havoc on New York City” by “engaging in brazen acts of violence.”
But just a day after being arrested, Tekashi cut a deal with federal prosecutors to flip on his crew in return for lenience. Taking the witness stand during a 2019 trial, he offered detailed and frank testimony about his involvement in the gang and his former gang mates.
Under the deal with prosecutors, Tekashi was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of supervised release. The sentence was set to run until July 2020, but Tekashi was released early, in April 2020, after his attorneys argued that the coronavirus pandemic posed an increased risk to him because he has asthma.
Tekashi recently spent another month in prison after prosecutors accused him of breaking the terms of his supervised release.
