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Legal

Donald Trump has pardoned YoungBoy Never Broke Again, the rapper confirmed on Wednesday (May 28). The news was first reported by CNN’s Jasmine Wright on X. “President Trump has also issued a full pardon to rapper NBA YoungBoy, one of the most streamed rappers, who was convicted of possessing weapons as a felon,” she wrote. […]

President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover, as the former Chicago gang leader was set to spend the rest of his years behind bars in Colorado. Trump has dished out quite a few pardons in recent weeks while in the Oval Office, and he commuted the multiple life sentences of the Gangster […]

Suge Knight believes Diddy should be a free man at the conclusion of his sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
While Knight and Diddy were at opposite ends of the contentious West Coast/East Coast rap beef in the ’90s, the Death Row founder joined NewsNation’s Cuomo on Tuesday (May 27), where he detailed why he thinks that Diddy shouldn’t be found guilty.

Knight said he believes Combs had many accomplices who should be in handcuffs with him, while Diddy was the only Bad Boy Records executive to take the fall. “I say this all the time, Puffy and I are not friends. But Puffy should definitely walk,” he explained. “There were other executives involved in Puffy’s life and for Puffy to be the only guy that gets on the stand is a sad day for hip-hop.”

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Host Chris Cuomo asked Knight about his relationship with Diddy’s former assistant, Capricorn Clark, who testified against Combs and claimed Diddy kidnapped her. Knight alleged that Bad Boy’s Reggie Wright Jr. forced Clark to have sex with multiple people.

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“I don’t think this is a case where Puffy should be going to prison … How could every person who’s involved with Puffy not on the stand except for Puffy? At some point, the law gotta be blind,” Knight continued. “We just can’t jump to conclusions and say, ‘throw Puffy under the bus.’ Like I said, him and I are not friends, but Puffy definitely should walk. What’s right is right, wrong is wrong.”

Even if Diddy ends up receiving a lengthy prison sentence, Knight believes that President Donald Trump will end up giving the Bad Boy mogul a pardon.

“I don’t think he has nothing to worry about, and I don’t think he’s worried because he’s gonna be federal, and if he gets convicted, Trump’s gonna pardon him,” he said to Cuomo. “I feel that Puffy is going to be alright and have a fair shot at it. He’s not a dummy. I’m quite sure somebody is going to talk to those jurors and convince one or two of them.”

Diddy’s sex trafficking and racketeering trial is approaching day 10 and is expected to last into July. He faces life in prison if convicted on all charges.

Watch the full clip featuring Suge Knight on Cuomo below:

 

Smokey Robinson has filed a countersuit against four longtime housekeepers who accused him of rape earlier this month, claiming the allegations were part of an “extortionate scheme” by the women and their attorneys.

The new cross-complaint, filed in Los Angeles court Wednesday (May 28), came three weeks after the unnamed housekeepers filed a $50 million civil lawsuit over allegations that the legendary Motown singer repeatedly raped them over nearly two decades in his employ.

In filing the countersuit, defense attorneys for Robinson went on offense — accusing the four women and their attorneys (John W. Harris and Herbert Hayden) of defamation, invasion of privacy, civil conspiracy and even elder abuse over the “fabricated” allegations.

“The depths of plaintiffs’ avarice and greed knows no bounds,” Robinson’s attorney Christopher Frost writes, according to a copy of the submitted complaint obtained by Billboard. “During the very time that the Robinsons were being extraordinarily generous with plaintiffs, plaintiffs were concocting an extortionate plan to take everything from the Robinsons … and wrongfully destroy the Robinsons’ well-built reputations.”

Allegations made during court cases, such as those against Robinson, are typically shielded from defamation lawsuits by the First Amendment. But Robinson’s attorneys say the accusers and their lawyers stepped outside those protections by holding a press conference in which they “paraded themselves in front of the media” and created a “media whirlwind.”

“While the law protects plaintiffs’ ability to concoct whatever fiction they may wish to create in a legal pleading … it does not allow plaintiffs to make gratuitous and slanderous allegations in media circus-type press conferences,” Frost wrote in the cross-complaint.

Attorneys for the accusers did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday. Frost confirmed that the cross-complaint was filed with the court on Wednesday but declined to comment otherwise.

Robinson was sued on May 6, accused of forcing the housekeepers to have oral and vaginal sex in his Los Angeles-area bedroom dozens of times between 2007 and 2024. The singer’s wife, Frances Robinson, was also named as a defendant over claims that she didn’t do enough to stop the abuse, despite knowing that he had a history of sexual misconduct.

In addition to the sexual abuse allegations, the lawsuit also claimed that the Robinsons paid their employees below minimum wage, and that Frances Robinson created a hostile work environment replete with screaming and “racially-charged epithets.” The accusers also filed a police report, leading the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to open a criminal investigation.

In Wednesday’s countersuit, the Robinsons’ attorneys told a very different story. They said the housekeepers had “stayed with the Robinsons year after year” because the couple had treated them as “extended family,” including financially helping them and celebrating holidays together. The complaint quoted alleged text messages in which the accusers wished Robinson a happy birthday and told him “love you.”

“The Robinsons did not abuse, harm, or take advantage of plaintiffs,” Frost wrote. “They treated plaintiffs with the utmost kindness and generosity.”

According to Wednesday’s new filing, the housekeepers and their lawyers made “pre-litigation demands for $100 million or more” before filing their case. When that failed to work, the new filing says the accusers went public with the allegations as loudly as they could.

“The resulting media whirlwind was swift and severe, being picked up by virtually every major media outlet worldwide, and the harm to the Robinsons’ reputation [is] palpable,” Frost wrote. “The Robinsons are afraid to open the newspaper, read the internet, or even go out in public for fear of what they may hear or see next, no matter how fabricated.”

The filing focused on statements by Harris, the attorney, at a May 6 press conference calling Robinson a “serial and sick rapist” and a “serial assaulter” — statements that Robinson says are fair game for a defamation case: “Plaintiffs may be able to make slanderous statements in a legal pleading (for now), but they are not entitled to do so in gratuitous, self-serving press conferences.”

In addition to defamation and other wrongdoing, the Robinsons say the accusers tried to “hide, conceal, and destroy evidence exposing their illegal scheme,” including by taking Frances Robinson’s phone and deleting text conversations. The filing hinted that the Robinsons would seek additional penalties for such “spoliation” of evidence.

THE BIG STORY: The Beastie Boys and Universal Music Group both reached settlements to end copyright lawsuits in which they accused Chili’s of using their songs in videos posted to TikTok, Instagram and other platforms – part of a flood of recent litigation over music on social media.
The cases, filed last year, claimed the restaurant chain featured copyrighted music in what amounted to advertisements on social media. The UMG case involved songs by Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg and dozens of other artists, but the problem was particularly galling for the Beastie Boys, a group that’s long been famously opposed to their music appearing in ads.

When it comes to music, social media has increasingly become a legal minefield for brands. TikTok, Instagram and other services provide their users with huge libraries of fully licensed songs to play over their videos, but those tracks are strictly for personal use and cannot be used for commercial videos. That kind of content requires a separate “synch” license, just like any conventional advertisement on TV.

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That distinction appears to have been lost on many brands. Sony filed a lawsuit against Marriott last year for allegedly using nearly 1,000 of its songs in social media posts, and Kobalt and other publishers sued more than a dozen NBA teams over the same thing a few months later. In March, Sony sued the University of Southern California for allegedly using Michael Jackson and AC/DC songs on in videos hyping its college sports teams. Then last month, Warner Music filed a case against cookie chain Crumbl, claiming it used songs by Lizzo, Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande and Beyoncé without clearing them.

What comes next? For music owners, you should take a swing through TikTok and see if any big companies are profiting off your songs. For brand owners, experts tell Billboard they need to be taking “proactive steps” to fix the problem before it turns into a costly lawsuit.

You’re reading The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday, go subscribe here.

Other top stories this week…

DIDDY TRIAL GOES ON – The Diddy trial continued in its second week, with blockbuster testimony from Kid Cudi about how he believes that the indicted mogul once broke into his house and ordered someone to torch his Porsche with a Molotov cocktail. To get up to speed on the trial, go read our full recap of the first two weeks.

LIL WAYNE LAWSUIT – Darius “Deezle” Harrison, a producer on Lil Wayne’s hit album 2008’s Tha Carter III,  sued Universal Music Group over allegations that he’s owed more than 10 years’ worth of royalties from the chart-topping record – a figure he says totals more than $3 million. His lawyers say he has not been paid royalties from the album in over a decade.

HITTING BACK – Months after hip-hop producer Madlib filed a lawsuit against his former manager and business partner Eothen “Egon” Alapatt, the exec sued him right back — blasting him for “having the audacity to bring this mean-spirited personal action.” The countersuit accused Madlib of a wide range of “misconduct” following the sudden end of their long partnership, including promising to release music by the late Mac Miller that he doesn’t own.

IS IT OVER NOW? – Justin Baldoni dropped his subpoena of Taylor Swift in his messy legal battle against her friend Blake Lively – that Swift’s reps had fiercely criticized as “tabloid clickbait.” Baldoni’s lawyers had sought communications between the Swift and Lively teams, citing anonymous accusations that Lively asked Swift to delete text messages and demanded a statement of support. But a judge quickly struck those claims from the case docket as improper, irrelevant and “potentially libelous.”

LILES CLAIMS EXTORTION – Record exec Kevin Liles claimed that a rapper named Lady Luck was trying to extort him by falsely accusing him of sexual assault in the 2000s. He said her lawyers threatened to publicize the “utterly false and horrendous allegations” if he didn’t pay them $30 million: “I intend to vigorously fight any complaint she may file and will take whatever legal action is necessary against her and the attorneys who have participated in this attempted shakedown.” The new dispute is unrelated to another sexual assault lawsuit against Liles filed by an unnamed woman earlier this year, which he is seeking to have dismissed.

MEGAN BLASTS TORY – Megan Thee Stallion’s legal team fired back at recent claims of new evidence that would exonerate Tory Lanez, who was convicted in 2022 of shooting the rapper. Lanez’s supporters say there’s new surveillance footage and a new witness who can ID a different shooter, but Megan’s lawyers issued a detailed report rejecting those claims: “One by one, their misleading statements unravel and all that is left is the simple truth: he was convicted by overwhelming evidence.”

BOWLING ALLEY BRAWL – DaBaby won a court order tossing out assault and battery claims over a 2022 bowling-alley brawl with Brandon Curiel, the brother of his ex-girlfriend DaniLeigh, after a judge ruled that the rapper had not been properly served for years. Though the case against DaBaby was dismissed, the rapper could still be on the hook financially as the case continues against the bowling alley where the attack allegedly occurred.

FORTNITE PATENT VERDICT – Epic Games, the company behind the video game Fortnite, defeated a $32.5 million patent lawsuit over animated in-game concerts put on by Travis Scott and Ariana Grande. A company called Utherverse Digital claimed Epic infringed its virtual reality patents when it staged the virtual concerts for tens of millions of Fortnite gamers during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a jury in Seattle said neither the Scott nor the Grande concert used Utherverse’s technology.

With the Diddy trial now in recess for the long holiday weekend, Billboard is recapping the biggest moments over the first two weeks — from Cassie Ventura’s bombshell testimony about “freak offs” to a hunt for Suge Knight to Kid Cudi’s torched Porsche.

The trial, which is expected to last six more weeks, will decide the fate of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who federal prosecutors say coerced Ventura and other women to partake in the freak offs — drug-fueled sex with male escorts for his entertainment. His attorneys say the events were entirely consensual.

After just two weeks of testimony, there’s no shortage of big moments. Here are the six you — and the jurors — are going to remember.

The Video

On the very first day of the trial, prosecutors wasted no time getting to their most explosive piece of evidence: a headline-grabbing surveillance video of Combs beating Ventura in the hallway at Los Angeles’ Intercontinental Hotel in March 2016.

Ahead of the trial, the two sides spent months arguing over whether the clip could be played for the jury. Combs’ team argued first that it had been unfairly leaked to the press to taint the jury pool, and later said it had been deceptively edited and would confuse jurors. But prosecutors said he was merely “desperate” to hide “some of the most damning evidence of his sex trafficking,” and a judge eventually ruled that it could be played.

Prosecutors did so immediately, calling as their very first witness a former security guard at the hotel who responded to the incident. Playing with no audio in a silent courtroom, jurors looked on impassively as the ugly footage played twice, once with the security guard describing each moment in detail from the witness stand.

Graphic Details About Freak-Offs

Freak offs — elaborate events in which Combs allegedly forced Ventura and others to have sex with escorts while he masturbated — have been at the center of the case since it was filed. But on the first day of the trial, jurors got far more vivid details.

Daniel Philips, a male exotic dancer who said he’d taken part in numerous freak offs, described arriving to dark Manhattan hotel rooms, where he would have sex with Ventura at Diddy’s direction. When a prosecutor asked what Combs had been doing during the events, Philips didn’t mince words: “He was sitting in the corner masturbating.”

Philips’ testimony got darker and more graphic from there, describing ejaculation, urination, drug use and finally an outburst of physical violence against Cassie: “I was shocked. It came out of nowhere. I was terrified,” Philips said.

Later, Cassie told jurors her own side of the story, saying the parties left her feeling “humiliated” and eventually “became a job,” but that she felt she had no choice but to participate — first out of wanting to please a man she loved, and later out of fear of blackmail videos and physical violence.

When asked about whether she had wanted to be urinated on, Cassie was unequivocal: “No, I did not want it,” she said. “It was disgusting, it was too much. I choked. No one could think I wanted it.”

Celebrity Name Drops

The first two weeks of the Diddy trial have seen a number of major celebrity name-drops — none accused of any wrongdoing, but likely still to the chagrin of their publicists.

Under cross-examination, Ventura told the jury about a 21st birthday party that Combs threw for her at a Las Vegas club in 2007 — a key early moment in their romantic relationship. When asked about other celebrities in attendance, she said that Diddy had “brought Britney Spears” to the event. Later, defense attorneys mentioned Michael B. Jordan, suggesting Combs was jealous because he was suspicious Ventura was having an affair with the actor in 2015.

Then at the start of the second week, Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard told jurors that Combs once punched Ventura in the stomach at a Los Angeles restaurant where Usher and other celebrities were present. Richard’s testimony left it unclear whether the A-listers had actually seen the incident or merely been at the event.

The Hunt For Suge Knight

But no celebrity name drop was more dramatic than that of Suge Knight — the former CEO of Death Row Records and a major Diddy rival in the East Coast–West Coast hip-hop rivalry of the 1990s.

During her testimony last week, Cassie told jurors of a 2008 incident in which Combs abruptly left a freak-off after learning that Knight was at a diner nearby. “I was crying,” she said. “I was screaming, ‘Please don’t do anything stupid’.”

Then on Tuesday, Diddy’s former personal assistant David James offered another, more detailed perspective on the incident — saying he driven a black SUV carrying Combs, a security guard and multiple handguns to the restaurant, but that Knight had already left when they arrived. “It was the first time I realized my life was in danger,” James said.

Cassie’s Settlements

During cross-examination, Diddy’s lawyers got Cassie to reveal the size of two major civil settlements stemming from the abuse she allegedly suffered — a tactic likely aimed at making jurors question her motives for speaking out against Combs.

It was Ventura’s civil lawsuit, filed in November 2023, that first raised allegations against Combs. Though it sparked a flood of additional cases and set into motion the criminal probe that led to his indictment, the case itself was almost immediately dismissed after Cassie reached a private settlement.

At trial this week, Cassie confirmed that she had she had received $20 million in that deal. Diddy’s defense attorney quickly noted that Ventura had canceled an upcoming concert tour soon after inking that settlement. “As soon as you saw that you were going to get the $20 million, you canceled the tour because you didn’t need it anymore, right?” Estevao asked Ventura. “That wasn’t the reason why,” she replied.

Later that same day, Ventura said she would give the money back if she could reverse Combs’ abuse. “If I never had to have freak-offs I would have agency and autonomy,” Ventura said.

Near the very end of her testimony, Ventura also revealed another settlement for the first time, disclosing that she was expecting to receive roughly $10 million from InterContinental Hotels over the 2016 incident captured in the surveillance tape.

Kid Cudi Takes The Stand

Beyond Cassie herself, the highest-profile witness to testify so far has been Kid Cudi — a critically acclaimed rapper who briefly dated Ventura in 2011.

Cudi has long been linked to the case. Back when Ventura first sued, she suggested that Combs had blown up Cudi’s car as an act of jealous revenge. A spokesperson for the rapper later confirmed her account to the New York Times: “This is all true.”

Sitting on the witness stand, Cudi said it himself — telling jurors that he believes Combs broke into his Los Angeles house and later torched his Porsche with a Molotov cocktail. Shown a photo of his burnt-up luxury car, Cudi said, “It looks like the top of my Porsche was cut open, and that’s where the Molotov cocktail was put in.”

Cudi later told jurors that Combs had promised him he wasn’t responsible for the car explosion, but he said he believed Combs was lying.

A producer on Lil Wayne’s hit 2008 album Tha Carter III has sued Universal Music Group (UMG) over claims that he’s owed more than 10 years’ worth of royalties totaling more than $3 million. UMG was hit with the federal lawsuit on Thursday (May 22) over Darius “Deezle” Harrison’s production work on Tha Carter III, […]

Kid Cudi took the witness stand Thursday (May 22) in the sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, telling jurors that he believes Combs broke into his Los Angeles house and later torched his Porsche with a Molotov cocktail out of anger over his relationship with Cassie Ventura.

The “Day ‘n’ Nite” rapper (Scott Mescudi) was a much-anticipated witness in the criminal trial of Combs, who’s accused of coercing Ventura and other women into participating in drug-fueled sex shows known as “freak-offs.” The trial closed out its second week on Thursday (May 22) and is expected to continue for at least another month.  

Mescudi was photographed arriving at the Manhattan federal courthouse in a leather jacket and smoking a cigarette. According to reporting from CNN and the Associated Press, he began testifying in the morning and told jurors he briefly dated Ventura in 2011.

From the stand, Mescudi said Ventura, an R&B singer who dated Combs for 11 years, became very scared when the music mogul learned about her new relationship in December 2011. He then claimed Combs broke into his L.A. house while he was at a hotel with Ventura, and that items were moved and his dog was locked in a bathroom when he returned.

Combs allegedly tried to talk to Mescudi after this incident, but the rapper said he ignored the mogul’s texts: “You broke into my house, you messed with my dog, I don’t want to talk to you,” Mescudi testified.

Ventura claimed during her marathon testimony last week that Combs had threatened to blow up Mescudi’s car out of anger about their relationship, and, in her 2023 civil lawsuit against Combs, said that shortly after Combs issued these threats, Mescudi’s car was blown up. Mescudi seemed to confirm this, saying his Porsche 911 was torched in his driveway in early 2012.

At one point, the jury was shown a photo of Mescudi’s burnt-up luxury car. “It looks like the top of my Porsche was cut open, and that’s where the Molotov cocktail was put in,” Mescudi testified of the photo.

Mescudi later said he met up with Combs to discuss their differences after the incident, and that Combs acted “like a Marvel supervillain” during their meeting. He added that Combs promised he wasn’t responsible for the car explosion, but Mescudi said he believed Combs was lying.

Combs has not been officially linked to the car explosion — a point that Combs’ attorneys emphasized when cross-examining Mescudi. Defense attorney Brian Steel suggested that DNA collected from the car was identified as belonging to a woman, though Mescudi responded that he never heard from authorities about this.

Steel did get Mescudi to confirm on cross-examination that Ventura confided in him about physical abuse from Combs, but never mentioned sexual abuse. This supports the defense’s argument that while Combs committed domestic violence, he never engaged in trafficking and that all of his sexual encounters were consensual.

Mescudi posted a video on X thanking fans for support after departing the courthouse.

Also on Thursday, the jury heard additional testimony from Combs’ former assistant George Kaplan, who said he quit in 2015 after witnessing the rapper’s violent treatment of Ventura and other girlfriends.  

“The central reason that I left my job as Mr. Combs’ assistant was that I was not comfortable or aligned with the physical behavior that had been going on,” said Kaplan, who began his testimony on Wednesday (May 21). Notably, Kaplan was granted immunity after initially being reluctant to testify.  

A parade of other witnesses also briefly took the stand on Thursday. This included Ventura’s former makeup artist, Mylah Morales, who said she saw Ventura with extensive injuries after an argument with Combs in 2010, plus a hotel employee and a computer forensics agent.

The trial is off for the next few days and slated to resume on Tuesday (May 27).

Combs was indicted in September, charged with running a sprawling criminal operation aimed at facilitating the freak-offs and using violence, money and blackmail to keep victims silent and under his control. (Read Billboard‘s full explainer of the case against Diddy here.)

Once one of the music industry’s most powerful men, Combs is accused of racketeering conspiracy (a so-called RICO charge), sex trafficking and violating a federal prostitution statute. If convicted on all of the charges, he faces a potential life prison sentence.

Justin Bieber has shared a message of support for Chris Brown after the R&B star was released on bail following his arrest in London.
On Thursday (May 22), Brown celebrated his release by sharing a photo of himself on Instagram walking with a plane visible in the background, as if he’d just stepped off his flight. “Cook, remain humble,” the singer captioned the post.

In the comments, Bieber shared kind words. “Welcome home,” the pop star simply wrote.

Brown’s post and Bieber’s comment come one day after a London judge released the former on bail in the amount of $6.7 million, also ruling that the “Under the Influence” artist has to surrender his passport when not traveling for his upcoming Breezy Bowl XX Tour. The North American and European trek is scheduled to kick off June 8.

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Brown was arrested May 15 while at his hotel in Manchester on “suspicion of grievous bodily harm,” officials told The Independent. The alleged incident took place at a nightclub in February 2023, with prosecutors claiming that the two-time Grammy winner attacked music promoter Abraham Diaw with a tequila bottle.

After initially being denied bail, Brown was released on Wednesday (May 21).

The “Forever” artist and Bieber have worked together in the past, collaborating on “Next to You” in 2011 and “Don’t Check on Me” with Ink in 2019. The former reached No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the latter peaked at No. 67 on the chart.

Bieber’s “welcome home” comment isn’t the first time he’s publicly expressed support for Brown. In 2019, he praised his past duet partner on Instagram, writing, “Everyone wants to wait til people die To give them the credit they deserve.”

“I’m calling it now when CB passes away after a long full life, you will miss what you had in front of you the whole time … trust me watch you will see,” he continued at the time. “The people who have over looked this mans talent because of a mistake he made.. you need to reevaluate! Love you @chrisbrownofficial.”

Months after hip-hop producer Madlib filed a lawsuit against his former manager and business partner Eothen “Egon” Alapatt, the exec is now suing him right back — blasting him for “having the audacity to bring this mean-spirited personal action” and citing a potential release of music by the late Mac Miller.
In a countersuit filed last week in Los Angeles court, Egon accused Madlib of a wide range of “misconduct” following the sudden end of their long partnership — a split that Egon said came after he had spent more than a decade building Madlib’s career and catering to his “whims and eccentricities.”

“Madlib had the audacity to bring this mean-spirited personal action against Egon, accusing him with no basis or any proof,” Kenneth Freundlich, the manager’s lawyer, writes in the May 14 cross-complaint. “Instead, under the apparent spell of his transactional lawyer/manager, it is Madlib who has unlawfully absconded with [shared] property.”

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The lawsuit did not disclose the identity of the “lawyer/manager” in question. Madlib’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment on the allegations in the countersuit.

Madlib, a critically acclaimed producer known for his work with Kanye West (now Ye) and the late MF Doom, filed his lawsuit against Egon in October, accusing him of “rank self-dealing” and “pervasive mismanagement.” The case accused Egon of abusing his power over their companies (record label Madicine Show and merch firm Rapp Cats) to profit at Madlib’s expense.

But in last week’s countersuit, it was Egon’s turn to level accusations. After more than a decade together, he says Madlib “cut off all ties” in 2022 and launched his own label called Madlib Invazion — a name he says belongs to their old company. In one of his many claims, he says Madlib is infringing Madicine Show’s trademarks by using that name.

“It could not be clearer that Madlib did this to usurp and disrupt Madicine Show’s business and to blatantly trade on the goodwill created by Madicine Show in the name ‘Madlib Invazion,’” Egon’s lawyers wrote. “Because of Madlib’s nefarious formation of a record label with the identical name … the public is confused and misled.”

Egon says Madlib’s new label is interfering with music projects that legally belong to the old company, including the release of a years-old recording of the late Miller that has long been rumored to be in the works. (Miller’s estate is not involved in the dispute nor accused of any wrongdoing.) He also says Madlib is refusing to complete an album for Freddie Gibbs that they are contractually obligated to deliver to Sony Music.

The lawsuit from Madlib is the second legal battle Egon has faced in recent years. Back in 2023, MF Doom’s widow (Jasmine Dumile Thompson) filed a case against him, claiming he stole dozens of private notebooks belonging to the late hip-hop legend and was refusing to return them in the years since Doom’s 2020 death.

In a response filing, Egon’s lawyers blasted that case as “baseless and libelous” and part of a “year-long smear campaign.” The lawsuit ended last year with a settlement, which reportedly saw the notes returned to Thompson.