Search Articles
BROOKLYN (CN) — In a federal lawsuit, Busta Rhymes’ former assistant claims the rapper punched him in the face for being on his phone — an incident that spurred criminal charges — then fired him and blackballed him from the hip-hop industry.
Dashiel Gables filed the civil complaint after hours Monday against the “Break Ya Neck” rapper, whose real name is Trevor Smith Jr.. In the suit, Gables describe the reported January assault in the lobby of Rhymes’ Brooklyn residence. During an argument between the two, Gables’ daughter called him, and Gables ignored the call but sent his daughter a text message, he said in the 13-page complaint.
In response, Rhymes screamed at Gables to “stay the fuck off your phone” and then punched the assistant twice, Gables says.
“Defendants constructively terminated plaintiff’s employment by repeatedly punching him in the face,” he writes in the Eastern District of New York lawsuit.
Gables was hospitalized with swelling in his face and filed a police report. Rhymes turned himself in to authorities to face three assault charges.
After that, Gables says, he was iced out of the hip-hop industry where he’d worked for years and built substantial relationships.
The former assistant claims employee abuse was regular while working for Rhymes, accusing him of spitting in employees’ faces, smacking them on the back of the head and grabbing their clothes. For his trouble, Gables says he wasn’t paid overtime wages, instead earning a daily flat rate of $200 while his boss threatened to “bloody [his] face,” routinely called him a homophobic slur and made fun of his poor hearing.
Gables said his “working day would begin when Busta Rhymes woke up and end when he went to sleep.”
A representative for Busta Rhymes could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. An attorney for Gables did not return a request for comment.
Rhymes previously settled a federal labor complaint filed in the same court in 2016.
In 2015, he was arrested for throwing a strawberry protein drink at a Manhattan gym employee who wouldn’t let his camera crew in to film his workout. Last year, he was filmed throwing a drink at a woman who groped him at Las Vegas airport.
The Brooklyn-born rapper and actor, who recently cameoed in the identically named 2025 sequel to crime comedy film “The Naked Gun,” received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Aug. 1.
Follow @NinaPullanoSubscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.