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Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
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Lil Wayne Says Agent Took|$375,000 in Tour Profits

MANHATTAN (CN) - Rapper Lil Wayne says his agent stole $375,000 from a quick tour he planned before he went to jail last January on gun charges.

The rapper's company, Young Money Touring, sued Ujaama Talent Agency, Ujaama CEO Erskine Isaac and his business partner, David Nelson, in New York County Supreme Court, accusing them of fraud and conversion.

Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter Jr., says Ujaama also coordinated the 2008 tour that followed the release of "Tha Carter III," an album that sold 1 million copies the first week it was released.

Ujaama organized the first 30 dates of that tour, before Carter signed a deal with the William Morris Agency, according to the complaint.

In exchange, Young Money claims it paid Ujaama a 5 percent commission, along with 5 percent of merchandising revenues from the 30 concerts.

Despite playing no part in the organization of Carter's next two tours, Isaac and Nelson demanded a cut of the profits from Carter's spring and summer tours in 2009, according to the lawsuit.

Young Money says it owed Ujaama nothing from those tours, but the rapper's manager, Cortez Bryant, paid Ujaama $100,000 anyway. Unappeased, Isaac and Nelson allegedly demanded another $125,000.

In late 2009, as Carter faced jail time in New York on gun charges, Young Money scrambled to put together a month-long tour before his incarceration at Riker's Island.

Having fired the William Morris Agency, Young Money says it turned to Ujaama, since Ujaama claimed it had already set up some dates and would be able to work under the tight schedule.

This time, Young Money says it promised Ujaama a 10 percent commission as an offering to settle any lingering claims Ujaama had over the previous two tours.

Ujaama was supposed to collect money from the tour and hand it over to Young Money, minus its 10 percent cut. But the agency kept $375,000, in addition to its 10 percent commission, Young Money says.

Ujaama allegedly claimed it was entitled to the extra money for work it had done on the 2009 tours.

Young Money wants the money back. It is represented by Andrew Multer of Bahn, Herzfeld & Multer.

Carter is serving a one-year sentence at Riker's. Though prison staff reportedly caught him with contraband -- an iPod and headphones -- he is expected to be released four months early, in November, for good behavior.

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