American Rapper Lil Uzi Vert has been sued by a music touring agency based in Los Angeles for over 500,000 USD in unpaid bills. The company filed a lawsuit against the rapper on Wednesday (June 12) in a U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
Born and brought up in Philadelphia as Symere Bysil Woods, the 31-year-old singer earned global fame as Lil Uzi Vert with their 2015 commercial mixtape Luv Is Rage. Vert and M99 Studios’ association goes back nearly a decade ago. They have been associated with M99 Studios since 2017, the same year the creative agency was founded. Over the seven years, the company has managed several live tours and festival shows for Vert. But, how did the celebrity land in a legal battle with their long-term associated agency? Check out below.
What are the accusations against Lil Uzi Vert?
As per M99’s complaint, Vert “relied heavily” on the agency for all creative ideas, production, and staffing for all tours, shows, and performances for several years now. The company also stated that it would frequently have to make up for their financial shortfalls as the rapper would frequently fall late on billing. Although the Vert’s account would occasionally function, his credit card would regularly be denied while on tour which made it difficult for M99 to “ensure the safety and well-being of the crew without covering the expenses itself.”
In the lawsuit filed at the Georgia federal court, M99 has said that the company has been serving as a “fixer for all things” throughout the years and keeping tours running despite Vert’s “last-minute” and “unrealistic” requests. M99 Studios asserted that the rapper and their business, Uzivert LLC neglected to pay their invoices for four performances in the previous year, including Rolling Loud in Miami and Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, the hometown of Vert.
“M99 managed to fulfill this request, along with countless other last-minute demands all at significant time, effort and expense.” reads the complaint obtained by foreign media outlets. “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.”
M99’s attorneys claimed that the agency’s expenses were incurred because of “unrealistic production requests just hours before the scheduled performances” such as hiring 30 adult dancers to perform at Rolling Loud and arranging “a bounce house, wooded crosses, and mannequins” for one show.
Finally, the company severed relations with Vert following an Australian tour, saying the company “decided not to bill for the Australian services in hopes of parting ways amicably.” However, despite several assurances from the rapper’s longtime manager, Amina Diop, the earlier debts over the four American gigs were never paid. So, they demanded a compensation of 533, 499 USD for the previous uncleared bills and the payment of the dancers at the last year’s festival.
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