*Lil Wayne’s never-ending legal drama with former label Cash Money Records and its co-CEO Bryan “Birdman” Williams has taken another turn, as Birdman admits to spending $70 million in advances from the $100 million given by distributor Universal Music Group.
Wayne’s lawyers, however, claim the money was not spent on legitimate expenses that would excuse Birdman from forking over the rapper’s agreed-upon percentage.
TMZ reports that according to legal papers, Birdman says the money was spent on royalty payments, marketing endeavors and recordings costs, providing more than 20,000 pages of documents as proof of his claims.
But Wayne’s lawyers responded by saying that none of the 20,000 pages accounts for the $70 million, part of which Wayne claims he is entitled to.
Cash Money signed a distribution deal with UMG in 1998 that included $100 million in advances. A March 2016 court filing made on behalf of Wayne against UMG and SoundExchange noted that $60 million of that has to date been un-recouped.
This latest round of documents is part of Wayne’s ongoing $51 million lawsuit against Birdman and Cash Money, which alleges he’s owed $10 million for an advance to create “Tha Carter V,” which is still on the shelf, as well as additional royalties from recordings released by Drake on Wayne’s Young Money imprint and various other complaints.
The simultaneous lawsuit against UMG was put on hold by a California federal district court in August to allow the Cash Money lawsuit to proceed first.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
