The 10 Craziest Lawsuits Filed Against Lil Wayne
Every time we turn around, it feels like Lil Wayne is getting sued again. He's been taken to court more than a dozen times for all kinds of things. From issues with song samples to issues at concerts, Wayne's lawyers are constantly on the clock. So when we heard that he was being sued again recently, we didn't bat an eye. This time, Wayne is being sued by a Miami-based company called Signature Group LLC that leases Wayne and his Young Money Entertainment a private jet for $55,000 per month.
However, according to the lawsuit, Wayne & Co. stopped making payments on the jet and now owes quite a bit of money on it. And Signature Group wants to be paid, so they just asked a judge to award them $1 million for the total balance owed plus additional fees and damages. Believe it or not, though, that's not the most insane lawsuit that the Young Money founder has ever had filed against him. Check out these 10.
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The Lawsuit: Two female Morgan State University students sued Wayne after he threw a large stack of dollar bills into the crowd during a show at the school and "made it rain." They claimed that they sustained injuries during the incident and hit Wayne with $1 million lawsuits.
The Year: 2007
How Crazy Was It? Throwing a large amount of money into a crowd is never a good idea. But if you attend a Lil Wayne concert, shouldn't you expect things like that to happen and react accordingly? Plus, $1 million seemed like a lot of money to ask for in this particular situation, even though Wayne did prove that he had money to spare by throwing it into the crowd in the first place.
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The Lawsuit: Publishing company Abkco Music Inc. sued Wayne on behalf of The Rolling Stones and charged him with copyright infringement after his song "Playing With Fire"—which sampled the Rolling Stones song of the same name—appeared on his album, Tha Carter III.
The Year: 2008
How Crazy Was It? Crazy enough to get Wayne to remove "Playing With Fire" from the album immediately. As you'll see, this isn't the only sample issue that Wayne has ever run into. But it is the one that got him to react the quickest and, ultimately, the one that affected his music the most.
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The Lawsuit: Producer Bangladesh sued Wayne and claimed that he hadn't been paid for the "A Milli" beat that he had given to him. At the time, he told VIBE that, "Cash Money don't pay royalties," with regards to the non-payment issue that he had with Wayne and Birdman.
The Year: 2010
How Crazy Was It? Crazy because Wayne had to know that the producer—who was on fire at the moment—would tell people about him getting stiffed, right? Er, apparently not. Because Wayne didn't pay him the $500,000 that he owed him for "A Milli" until way after the beat was created and then allegedly stiffed the producer again when Bangladesh created the song "6'7" for him soon after.
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The Lawsuit: A producer named Mali Boi accused Wayne of taking a song that he created called "Crush" and turning it into his song, "Mrs. Officer," for Tha Carter III.
The Year: 2009
How Crazy Was It? Rappers get accused of doing this all the time. But the crazy part about this particular suit was that producer Deezle was also named in it. And a short time after it was filed, Deezle filed a suit against Wayne claiming that he hadn't been paid for playing a part in creating the song. So in the end, everyone involved with the lawsuit lost something.
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The Lawsuit: A Louisiana-based jeweler sued Wayne for buying a ring worth almost $140,000 and a diamond chain worth more than $30,000 from him and then refusing to pay for them after making one initial payment.
The Year: 2006
How Crazy Was It? Wayne has purchased a lot of jewelry over the years, so it seems crazy that he bought these two particular items and then wouldn't pay for them later. But he eventually agreed to give back the expensive ring that he purchased to make things right with the jeweler.
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The Lawsuit: Wayne was sued by a Los Angeles man who claimed that he tried to take a photo of the rapper in 2012—and was then promptly hit in the head by one of Wayne's associates with a skateboard.
The Year: 2013
How Crazy Was It? Hit in the head with a skateboard…because of a photo? That seems excessive, to say the least.
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The Lawsuit: Music publishing company Urband & Lazar sued Wayne on behalf of singer Karma-Ann Swanepoel after he used a sample of her voice on her song "Once" for his mixtape track, "I Feel Like Dying."
The Year: 2008
How Crazy Was It? The song was never used on a proper album, so Wayne thought that he was free to release it without giving Swanepoel proper credit for it. But he didn't and she responded with a lawsuit. And to further complicate things, Wayne turned around and sued the song's producer Jim Jonsin and said that he should be liable for the lawsuit because he was the one who produced the song. What a mess.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Lawsuit: While Wayne sat behind bars a few years ago, Jim Jonsin—the same producer Wayne sued for the sample issues he had with his song, "I Feel Like Dying"—sued him for failing to pay him for creating the beat for his hit, "Lollipop."
The Year: 2010
How Crazy Was It? It's one thing for Wayne to get sued for not paying for some random mixtape beat or a song that ends up being an album cut. But how do you not pay the guy who created one of the most successful songs of your career? That is just crazy.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Lawsuit: A promotional company called RMF Productions filed a $1.3 million suit against Wayne after he scheduled and then subsequently cancelled three different concerts in Rochester, N.Y. without ever putting on a show as promised.
The Year: 2009
How Crazy Was It? Was Wayne trying to pull a fast one here? He initially accepted $100,000 from RMF to put on a show. But then, he never actually put on the show and rescheduled it on three separate equations. It was a crazy stunt to try and pull on someone who had a lot of money at stake.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Lawsuit: A Georgia-based group called Done Deal Enterprises accused Wayne and his Young Money members of stealing their song "Bedrock" and turning it into their own song called—you guessed it—"Bedrock."
The Year: 2011
How Crazy Was It? Crazy because DDE sued Wayne and Young Money for $15 million. Granted, the single was hugely successful and made Young Money a ton of cash. But $15 million? That was a ridiculously large figure for them to throw out at Wayne.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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