Lauryn Hill has responded to the lawsuit fellow Fugee Pras filed Tuesday (October 1) within the Southern District of New York. The total checklist of claims embody fraud, fraud within the inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility, breach of contract, accounting and refusal to allow an audit of the Fugees’ tour.
In a prolonged assertion despatched to AllHipHop and later posted to Instagram, Hill referred to as Pras’ lawsuit “baseless” and insisted it’s “stuffed with false claims and unwarranted assaults.” Hill additionally stated she was solely making an attempt to assist Pras pay his mounting authorized charges stemming from his ongoing federal corruption case. As she defined, “I’ve been silent and pushing by way of as a result of I understood that Pras was underneath duress due to his authorized battles and that this was maybe affecting his judgment, way of thinking and character.”
Hill stated the lawsuit “notably omits” that Pras was superior “overpayment for the final tour” and has did not repay “substantial loans” prolonged by Hill “as an act of goodwill.”
She continued, “Final 12 months’s tour was put collectively to have a good time the twenty fifth Anniversary of the album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It was being deliberate whether or not the Fugees have been concerned or not. The tour was expanded to include the Fugees as a result of I discovered that Pras was in hassle and would wish cash to help his authorized protection.”
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Hill revealed Pras was given a $3 million advance for the tour and that each she and Wyclef Jean deferred their full advances to make sure he might cowl the charges.
“I lined many of the tour bills, as nearly all of the tour advance had gone to Pras,” she added. “An settlement was put in place to safe the compensation of the cash he was superior. Pras has not paid again the cash he was superior, and is presently in breach of this settlement.”
Hill additionally alleged Pras mainly simply needed to present up and carry out; nothing else was required of him.
“As of the final tour Pras thanked me for ‘saving his life’. (I’ve the receipts.),” she stated. “I’m not within the enterprise of kicking anybody, particularly after they’re down, which is why I haven’t responded thus far. It’s completely disheartening to see Pras on this place, my band mate and somebody I thought of a buddy.”
Hill acknowledged she wasn’t in Pras’ life when he discovered himself in hassle however determined to assist him anyway. She concluded, “Regardless of his assaults, I’m nonetheless compassionate and hope issues work out for him.”
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Pras’ lawsuit alleges that Hill “grossly mismanaged” the setup, advertising and marketing and budgeting of the Fugees 2023 tour and referred to as it a “veiled and devious try and make an enormous rating for herself.” He additionally accused Hill of secretly siphoning cash from the tour ensures. It additionally paints Hill as “narcissistic” and alleges that she turned down a $5 million supply for the Fugees to carry out at Coachella as a result of No Doubt would get prime billing.
“Hill’s conceitedness was once more demonstrated when she unilaterally rejected a $5 Million supply [to play Coachella],” it reads. “The rationale was that her ego was bruised because the group No Doubt can be receiving prime billing over the Fugees the evening of their present. Hill by no means advised Pras concerning the supply or that she had was rejected it. Pras solely realized about it when it was too late, after Hill, in an astonishing show of hubris, requested Pras if he would conform to carry out a number of Fugees songs totally free because the opening act for her son, ‘YG’ Marley, who was slated to carry out on the similar Coachella competition.”
Hill’s lawyer, Howard King, tells AllHipHop, “This determined and unlucky lawsuit introduced by Pras Michel is full of lies and deliberately disparaging remarks. It’s significantly disappointing that the swimsuit fails to disclose that Pras was grossly over superior for the final tour to assist him pay his mounting authorized payments. His failure to indicate appreciation for the monetary assist Ms. Hill has afforded him in his time of want is disappointing. This motion shall be aggressively defended and defeated.”
