American rapper Lil Uzi Vert has been sued by a Los Angeles-based music touring agency for unpaid bills of more than USD 500,000. The company filed the suit against the rapper in a US District Court in Atlanta on Wednesday (June 12).
Born and raised in Philadelphia as Simre Bysil Woods, the 31-year-old singer rose to global fame as Lil Uzi Vert with his 2015 commercial mixtape Luv Is Rage. Vert and M99 Studios’ association dates back nearly a decade. He has been associated with M99 Studios since 2017, the same year the creative agency was founded. In seven years, the company has managed several live tours and festival shows for Vert. But, how did the celebrity get embroiled in a legal battle with his longtime associated agency? See below.
What are the charges against Lil Uzi Vert?
According to M99’s complaint, Vert had “heavily relied” on the agency for several years for all creative ideas, production and staffing for all tours, shows and performances. The company also said it often had to cover its financial shortfalls because the rapper was often late on billings. Although Vert’s account sometimes worked, his credit card was regularly declined while on tour, making it difficult for M99 to “ensure the safety and well-being of the crew without covering the expenses themselves.”
In the lawsuit filed in Georgia federal court, M99 says the company has served as a “fixer for all things” for years and continued touring despite Vert’s “last minute” and “unrealistic” requests. M99 Studios claimed the rapper and his business, Uzivert LLC, were negligent in paying its invoices for four performances in the past year, including Rolling Loud in Miami and the Roots Picnic in Vert’s hometown of Philadelphia.
“M99 managed to fulfill this request, as well as countless other last-minute demands, which required considerable time, effort, and expense,” the complaint, obtained by foreign media outlets, states. “Despite its numerous requests for payment of outstanding bills, at no point did Uzivert and/or Artistry compensate M99 for the services it provided.”
M99’s lawyers claimed the agency’s expenses were due to “unrealistic production requests just hours before scheduled performances”, such as hiring 30 adult dancers to perform at Rolling Loud and arranging “bounce houses, wooded crosses, and mannequins” for one show.
Ultimately, the company severed ties with Vert after the Australian tour, stating that the company “decided not to bill him for Australian services in the hope of an amicable separation.” However, despite multiple assurances from the rapper’s longtime manager, Amina Diop, earlier debts on the four US gigs were never paid. Therefore, he demanded compensation of USD 533, 499 for previous unresolved bills and payments to dancers at last year’s festival.
