Legal
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This is 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.
This week: Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind album is at the center of a lawsuit against Martin Shkreli; Justin Timberlake faces a drunk driving charge; Young Thug’s lawyer avoids jail and demands that a judge recuse himself; Drake is sued by Members Only for trademark infringement; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Once Upon A Time In Court
When the Wu-Tang Clan auctioned off their one-of-a-kind album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin to Martin Shkreli in 2015, the deal was famous for its kooky restrictions. A rumor about a clause allowing Bill Murray to steal the CD in a heist turned out to be fictional, but the deal really did include a requirement that the music could not be released to the general public until 2103. Needless to say, a lot has changed since then. Shkreli soon became the hated “Pharma Bro” who spiked the price of crucial AIDS medications; he then forfeited the album to federal prosecutors after he was convicted on securities fraud charges. Years later, the government then re-sold Shaolin to a group called PleasrDAO. But those weird contractual restrictions came back into the picture twice this past week — first when Pleasr sued Shkreli for threatening to leak the album online, and again when Pleasr itself said it would be offering fans the chance to buy a snippet of the mysterious album for just $1. Go read our full story on the lawsuit against Shkreli, which Billboard will be monitoring closely as it moves forward in court. And then go read our deep-dive into how a famously restricted album is being “offered to the public” decades earlier than it was supposed to be.
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Other top stories this week…
TIMBERLAKE ARREST – Justin Timberlake was arrested in the Hamptons on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after a police officer pulled him over for running a stop sign and failing to stay in his lane. According to court records, Timberlake told police he “had one martini and I followed my friends home,” but his “eyes were bloodshot and glassy” and the officer smelled “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage” before he failed a field sobriety test.NO JAIL FOR THUG’S LAWYER – Young Thug’s attorney in his Atlanta gang trial isn’t going to jail — at least not for now. Days after Judge Ural Glanville held Brian Steel in contempt over a bizarre courtroom episode centered on claims of a secret meeting between the judge, prosecutors and a key witness, Georgia’s Supreme Court hit pause on Steel’s sentence while it reviews the judge’s decision. RECUSAL REFUSAL – Meanwhile, Steel demanded that Glanville recuse himself from the case, arguing that the secret meeting was an “unforgiveable” error and that the judge had “forfeited its role as an impartial judge and has become a member of the prosecution team.” The judge quickly denied the motion, saying Steel had provided only “bare assertions and legal conclusions.” MEMBERS ONLY v. DRAKE – Drake’s production company was hit with a lawsuit from the apparel brand Members Only, which claims that he’s been selling tour merch that infringed the company’s trademarks. The superstar’s concert t-shirts are a reference to a track of the same name on his 2023 album For All the Dogs, but the lawsuit says that’s no excuse. CARTEL CONCERTS? Angel Del Villar, the CEO of Los Angeles-based Del Records, asked a federal judge to dismiss criminal charges accusing him of doing business with a concert promoter linked to Mexican drug cartels. Del Villar’s lawyers say the indictment, handed down in 2022, is unfairly vague and the sign of an eventual “sucker punch” by prosecutors. LIL UZI SUED OVER UNPAID BILLS – Lil Uzi Vert was sued by a touring production company called M99 Studios that claims the rapper owes more than $500,000 in unpaid bills for work done at last year’s Rolling Loud, Roots Picnic and other events. Among other things, the lawsuit claims the bills involve satisfying the rapper’s “unrealistic production requests,” including finding and hiring more than two dozen adult dancers to appear onstage at a concert last year. DIVORCE DRAMA – Billy Ray Cyrus filed an emergency motion in Tennessee court amid his ongoing divorce from the singer Firerose, accusing her of nearly $100,000 in unauthorized credit card charges and seeking a temporary restraining order to stop her.
Justin Timberlake told police that he had “one martini” after being pulled over in Sag Harbor, N.Y., on Monday (June 17), NBC News reports. He was arrested, and on Tuesday, was arraigned on one count of driving while intoxicated. According to a statement released by the Sag Harbor Police Department, a traffic stop was initiated […]
The Atlanta judge overseeing Young Thug’s gang trial is refusing to recuse himself from the case and declare a mistrial, denying a motion filed by the rapper’s lawyers over revelations of an allegedly “illegal” secret meeting with prosecutors and a star witness.
At a hearing in Fulton County Court on Tuesday, Judge Ural Glanville rejected arguments from Thug’s attorney Brian Steel that the judge had “forfeited its role as an impartial judge and has become a member of the prosecution team.” The ruling came just a day after Steel filed his motion, in which he argued that the secret meeting with prosecutors had been an “unforgivable” error.
“The court has become a member of the prosecution team in an effort to thwart Mr. Williams’ Constitutional right to a fair trial,” Steel wrote in the motion, referring to Thug by his real name Jeffery Williams. “This court must be recused, the court and the prosecution have violated Mr. Williams’ rights and the Indictment must be dismissed after a mistrial is declared.”
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But in Tuesday’s ruling from the bench, Glanville said that Steel’s allegations were based merely on “bare assertions and legal conclusions which aren’t sufficient for the court to grant your motion.” The judge also refused to pause the trial or allow an immediate appeal the ruling to a higher court.
Thug and dozens of others were indicted in May 2022 over allegations that his “YSL” group was not really a record label called “Young Stoner Life” but rather a violent Atlanta gang called “Young Slime Life.” Prosecutors claim the group committed murders, carjackings, armed robberies, drug dealing and other crimes over the course of a decade. After kicking off in January 2023, the trial is already the longest in Georgia state history and is expected to run until early next year.
In an extraordinary courtroom episode last week, Steel revealed that he had learned of a secret “ex parte” meeting that morning between Glanville, prosecutors and a witness named Kenneth Copeland. Steel argued that such a meeting, without defense counsel present, was clear grounds for a mistrial. He claimed Glanville had helped prosecutors coerce the uncooperative Copeland into testifying with threats of extended jail time.
Rather than address Steel’s complaints, Glanville instead repeatedly demanded that he divulge who had informed him about a private meeting in his chambers, suggesting the leak was illegal: “If you don’t tell me how you got this information, you and I are going to have problems.” After Steel refused to do so, the judge eventually held him in contempt and sentenced him to 20 days in jail. The Georgia Supreme Court later halted the sentence while it reviews Glanville’s decision.
In Monday’s motion demanding Glanville’s recusal, Steel lambasted the judge over the secret meeting, repeatedly referring to it as a “star chamber” – a reference to an ancient English judicial practice characterized by secrecy and a lack of due process. He said the incident illustrated that Glanville and the prosecutors are “teaming up to gain an unlawful advantage over Mr. Williams.”
“Mr. Williams’ trial is constitutionally fractured, unfair and lacks all constitutional, statutory and ethical safeguards and protections of due process of law,” Steel wrote. “No intellectually honest person could believe that coercing witness Copeland to testify in a ‘star chamber’ setting meets Constitutional muster.”
In the filings, Steel laid out in detail what he believes occurred during the ex parte meeting.
After Copeland had reneged on a plan to testify in exchange for immunity, Steel claimed prosecutors and Glanville had warned the witness that if he did not testify, he could be held in custody until the entire YSL case is over – a process that’s expected to take many years. Steel claims that Glanville gave Copeland a written copy on the rules of perjury, which Steel argued was “no subtle gesture and one that helped the prosecution team to obtain their mission for Mr. Copeland to change his mind and testify.”
“This court was a participant and was present during these admonitions/threats to Mr. Copeland,” Steel writes. “This is witness intimidation, coercion and the court has become a member of the prosecution team in assisting the prosecution to induce a material witness to testify.”
In addition to the substance of the meeting, Steel took particular aim at the secrecy of it – saying that Glanville and the prosecutors not only held the meeting without notice, but “never intended” to reveal it to defense attorneys until Steel himself learned of it through other means. He also argued that Glanville had “obstructed justice” by refusing to release a transcript, and even suggests that court officers “may have been instructed to turn off their body cameras.”
During Tuesday’s hearing, after Glanville denied the motion to recuse, Steel pleaded in vain with him to reconsider stepping aside. The attorney warned that when he cross-examined Copeland on the witness stand, he would need to ask him about the ex parte meeting with the judge.
“I’m going to ask him how much pressure, if any, the court put on him, and you’re going to be the one instructing the jury,” Steel said to Glanville. “And I just can’t imagine how that’s fair to Mr. Williams.”
Justin Timberlake was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated in Sag Harbor, New York on Monday night (June 17). According to CNN, a spokesperson for the Sag Harbor Police Department confirmed that Timberlake, 43, remained in custody as of Tuesday morning (June 18) while a rep for the Sag Harbor Justice Court told the […]
Billy Ray Cyrus‘ divorce from his wife of seven months, singer Firerose, took an unexpected turn last week when the 62-year-old “Achy Breaky Heart” singer filed an emergency motion in Tennessee court on Thursday (June 13) seeking a temporary restraining order, according to People magazine.
Cyrus, 62, filed for divorce from the Hannah Montana alum and 37-year-old Australian singer born Johanna Rose Hodges in Nashville on May 22 citing “irreconcilable differences” and “inappropriate marital conduct,” in addition to seeking an annulment on fraud grounds.
Now, according to papers reportedly obtained by People, weeks after filing for divorce Cyrus’ emergency motion is meant to keep his estranged wife from any “unauthorized” use of his personal and business credit cards and accounts. In the docs, Cyrus reportedly alleges that in recent weeks Firerose has spent $96,986 on 37 unauthorized charges on his business account, including $70,665 in payments to her attorneys.
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At press time a spokespeople for Cyrus and Firerose had no comment when asked for additional information on the restraining order.
“As a result of these fraudulent charges… I am concerned that Ms. Hodges is in possession of other information that she may use to make fraudulent, unauthorized charges to my business and personal credit cards and accounts,” Cyrus wrote in an affidavit. The latest filing claims that the unauthorized charges began on May 23, the day Cyrus filed for divorce after almost seven months of marriage.
People reported that Firerose’s response to the emergency motion claimed there was “no emergency,” saying that she has had access to Cyrus’ American Express card since June 2022; the couple first began dating in 2022 after years of friendship and got engage later that year before marrying in October 2023. “To claim Wife has made 37 unauthorized charges is untrue,” Firerose’s attorneys wrote in the response filing according to a copy obtained by People. “Throughout the divorce proceedings, the parties are to live as per the status quo during the marriage. Wife was simply living as she has since October 10, 2023, and Husband has no right to cut her off.”
Additionally, Firerose’s filing reportedly claimed that after the couple’s 2023 wedding she continued to use his cards with Cyrus’ full permission and that the couple would “routinely” review her expenses on that card.
In contrast, according to People, Cyrus’ motion claims that he and Firerose do not have any joint accounts, credit cards or real estate and that neither was ever an authorized user or signer on one another’s accounts. Cyrus’ motion also claims that Firerose owns real estate in L.A. worth more than seven figures and that she has more than $500K in “liquid and investment assets at her disposal.”
After filing for divorce from his third wife — Cyrus was married to Cindy Smith from 1986-1991 and to Tish Cyrus from 1993-2002 — Cyrus reportedly reached an agreement in court that called for Firerose to move out of his home immediately with the provision that he would provide her with financial support for 90 days or until the dissolution of their marriage, or whichever comes first.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has returned his key to New York City after a request from Mayor Eric Adams in response to the release of a video showing the music mogul attacking R&B singer Cassie, officials said Saturday (June 15). The mayor’s office said Combs returned the key after Adams sent letters to the embattled musician’s […]
Just days after a company established to release solo music by band members of K-pop group EXO declared “war” against the stars’ longtime label and management agency SM Entertainment over a contract dispute, the K-pop giant has filed a lawsuit against the trio. As reported by the Korea JoongAng Daily, SM filed a civil suit […]
Lil Uzi Vert is facing a lawsuit that claims they owe a music touring company more than $500,000 in unpaid bills, including for procuring more than two dozen adult dancers that the rapper demanded appear on stage at last year’s Rolling Loud festival in Miami.
In a complaint filed Thursday (June 13) in Georgia federal court, attorneys for M99 Studios say the company successfully worked with Lil Uzi Vert (Symere Bysil Woods) for years, often serving as a “fixer for all things” and keeping tours running despite “unrealistic” requests.
But M99 claims that the rapper and their company (Uzivert LLC) have failed to pay their bills for four concerts last year, including Rolling Loud in Miami and Roots Picnic in Lil Uzi’s native Philadelphia. “Despite its numerous requests for payment of the outstanding invoices, at no point have Uzivert and/or Artist compensated M99 for the services it provided,” the complaint reads.
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The costs incurred by M99 covered “unrealistic production requests just hours before the scheduled performances,” the company’s lawyers claim. That included finding “a bounce house, wooded crosses, and mannequins” for one show, and hiring 30 adult dancers to appear at Rolling Loud.
“M99 managed to fulfill this request, along with countless other last-minute demands all at significant time, effort and expense,” the company says.
For years, the lawsuit claims that Lil Uzi Vert “relied heavily on M99” for all “creative ideas, production, and staffing for all tours, shows and performances.” The lawsuit says the rapper would often fall behind on billing, and that M99 would often have to cover up for their financial shortcomings.
“While Artist’s account would work from time-to-time, his credit card would frequently be declined while on tour, making it impossible for M99 to ensure the safety and well-being of the crew without covering the expenses itself,” the company wrote.
M99 says it finally cut ties after an Australian tour, saying the company “decided not to bill for the Australian services in hopes of parting ways amicably.” But the earlier debts over the four American concerts were never paid, the lawsuit claims, despite repeated promises from the rapper’s longtime manager, Amina Diop.
“M99 respectfully requests that this Honorable Court enter judgment in its favor and against Uzivert and/or Artist in an amount to be determined at trial, but no less than $533,499,” the company’s lawyers wrote.
A rep for Lil Uzi Vert did not immediately return a request for comment from Billboard.
A Latin music executive accused of doing business with a concert promoter linked to Mexican drug cartels is now asking a federal judge to dismiss the charges, arguing that the indictment is unfairly vague and the sign of an eventual “sucker punch” by prosecutors.
Angel Del Villar, the CEO of Los Angeles-based Del Records, was charged in 2022 with violating a federal law that bars U.S. residents from doing business with known drug traffickers. Prosecutors say he repeatedly arranged concerts with a Guadalajara-based promoter who has ties to Mexican cartels.
But in a motion filed Thursday, Del Villar’s attorneys say the indictment failed to clearly state what aspects of that federal law he allegedly violated, leaving him unable to properly prepare a defense.
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“The purpose of an indictment is to protect individuals from government ambush,” writes Del Villar’s attorney. “A person whose liberty is at stake is entitled to know with certainty what offenses they are alleged to have committed [and] against what theories they must be prepared to contend.”
“The indictment here thwarts those goals,” Del Villar’s lawyers say. “Neither Del Villar nor his codefendants, upon reading it, can be sure from which direction the government’s attack will come — a sure setup for a sucker punch.”
Del Villar is represented by Drew Findling, a well-known criminal defense attorney for music industry figures. The Atlanta lawyer with has previously represented Gucci Mane, YFN Lucci and members of Migos in criminal cases; last year, he successfully defended Cardi B over a microphone-throwing incident in Las Vegas.
Founded by Del Villar in 2008, Del Records has grown into a top record company for Regional Mexican music. The label is home to música mexicana supergroup Eslabon Armado, whose global hit, “Ella Baila Sola” with Peso Pluma, became one of the biggest songs of 2023, as well as Lenin Ramirez and other chart-topping artists.
But in June 2022, Del Villar, 41, and chief financial officer Luca Scalisi, 56, and Del Records itself were all charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. Passed in 1999, the law allows the U.S. to impose targeted sanctions on foreign individuals involved in the illegal drug trade and ban U.S. residents from doing business with them.
In Del Villar’s case, prosecutors claim that he repeatedly worked with Jesus Perez Alvear, a Mexican concert promoter who runs a company called Gallistica Diamente (Ticket Premier). The U.S. Treasury Department added Perez to the sanctions list in 2018, claiming he and Gallistica had helped cartels “exploit the Mexican music industry to launder drug proceeds and glorify their criminal activities.”
Prosecutors claim Del Villar and Scalisi used Perez to arrange four Mexican concerts for an undisclosed Del Records artist, then accepted nearly $200,000 in payments from him, all while clearly aware that Perez had been sanctioned. Charging documents cite a never-sent Del Records press release acknowledging that status, as well as private messages in which Scalisi noted that Perez was “under homeland security watch” and Del Villar was directly told that Perez was “a sanctioned US person.”
Two and a half years later – after the case was pushed back numerous times – both Del Villar and Scalisi are now pushing to dismiss the charges.
In his filing on Thursday, Del Villar’s attorneys argue that the indictment is not clear about which aspect of the Kingpin Act he was accused of violating. Is it a provision banning transactions related to a significant drug trafficker, or another one prohibiting transactions that seek to evade the law itself? Findling says prosecutors “do not specify.”
“It would be one thing had the indictment plainly set out the precise elements of [those separate provisions],” Del Villar’s attorney writes. “It would even be acceptable had the indictment set out facts that would make clear which provision was at issue. But it does neither.”
A response from prosecutors is due next month. If the case is not dismissed, a trial is tentatively scheduled for October.
A 58-year-old Arizona man who spent months plotting to stage a violent attack at a Bad Bunny show in Atlanta in May in order to spark a race war ahead of this November’s presidential election was indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday. According to NBC News, Mark Adams Prieto was indicted on charges of firearms trafficking, transfer of a firearm for use in a hate crime and possession of an unregistered firearm following a monthslong investigation by the FBI that resulted in his arrest last month.
The Justice Department said that Prieto is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service awaiting transport from New Mexico to Arizona. NBC reported that according to an arrest affidavit, officials began investigating Prescott, Arizona native Prieto in October after a confidential source told a Phoenix FBI agent that a man — later identified as Prieto — had talked about wanting to incite a race war in the run-up to this November’s election.
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The source told authorities that they’d spoken to Prieto more than 15 times over the course of three years at gun shows, where their chats grew from small talk to political discussions. Last year, however, the source told authorities that Prieto started making concerning comments “advocating for a mass shooting” that the affidavit said would specifically target Black people, as well as Jews and Muslims.
Prieto — a vendor at gun shows who allegedly traded his personal guns in cash or swap deals in order to evade detection from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives — reportedly believed that “martial law will be implemented shortly after the 2024 election and that a mass shooting should occur prior” to it being invoked, asking the source in late 2023 if they were “ready to kill a bunch of people.”
The FBI surveilled Prieto from January to March of this year, with the affidavit claiming that on January 21 Prieto told the source and an undercover FBI agent acting as an associate of the source at a Phoenix gun show that he wanted them to help him carry out a mass shooting that targeted Black people at an undetermined rap show in Atlanta. In describing his reasoning for picking Atlanta, the affidavit said Prieto explained, “When I was a kid that [Georgia] was one of the most conservative states in the country. Why is it not now? Because as the crime got worse in L.A., St. Louis, and all these other cities, all the [N-words] moved out of those [places] and moved to Atlanta. That’s why it isn’t so great anymore.”
Prieto allegedly said he wanted to attack a hip-hop show because there would be a high concentration of African Americans there and he was planning to leave confederate flags behind afterwards to send the message that “we’re going to fight back now, and every whitey will be the enemy across the whole country,” adding “KKK all the way” and that he wanted to show “no mercy, no quarter.” Prieto is also alleged to have made plans to travel to Atlanta in advance to store weapons in the area, stressing that having a “high body count” was the most important aspect of the planned attack.
On March 23, Prieto attended another gun show in Arizona where he allegedly told an undercover agent that he was still planning the attack, fearing that if he waited until after the election, “they might have everything in place you can’t even drive, you’ll be stopped,” according to the affidavit. At that point Prieto appeared to hone in on a pair of Bad Bunny shows at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on May 14 and 15, telling the undercover agent that he wanted them to wear hoodies because he thought they wouldn’t raise any alarms dressed that way at a hip-hop show. The following day Prieto allegedly sold an AR-15 to the undercover agent for $1,000 and told him to use it during the attack and to bring along as many gun magazines as he could carry.
At a subsequent gun show in April in Prescott the affidavit said that when the undercover agent asked Prieto if his attack was still on target for May, he said he was planning to push the date back. Prieto was then arrested in New Mexico on May 14 and admitted to knowing the undercover agent and the source and discussing the potential attack on a public venue in Atlanta.
“However, he told agents that he did not intend to go forward with the attack,” the affidavit said, noting that Prieto also allegedly admitted to having sold the AR-15 to the agent and telling him that it would be a good weapon to use in the attack. According to the Justice Department, Prieto allegedly told agents he had seven firearms in his car before being taken into custody and when agents searched his home they found additional firearms as well as an unregistered short-barreled rifle.
Each conviction on Firearms Trafficking and Transfer of Firearm for Use in a Hate Crime carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, as well as a fine of $250,000, or both; a conviction for Possession of an Unregistered Firearm carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. a fine of $250,000, or both.
A spokesperson for Bad Bunny had not returned Billboard’s request for comment at press time.