Rising rap star Iggy Azalea will enter a legal warfare with her ex-boyfriend over music she recorded early in her career. The ex is reportedly making deals to release her unreleased songs, and he allegedly also has a sextape of the two.
Azalea, born Amethyst Kelly, was a 17-year-old Australian living at a hotel in Houston, Texas when she met an older man named Maurice Williams (aka rapper Jefe Wine). According to the complaint, Williams, who was secretly married with children, put Azalea up in an apartment. In 2009, Azalea moved to Atlanta, and Williams followed her and moved into her pad. Around that time, "Williams downloaded the entire contents of Azalea's personal computer," including unreleased master recordings.
Now, with Azalea’s huge success as a rapper, Williams is trying to release the allegedly stolen music. In July (2014), a press release announced the pending release of an EP by Azalea titled Inizio via a joint venture with Primco, ESMG, Top Sail and Wine Enterprises, Inc. In the release, Williams states, “We believe the merger will be monumental because the projects that we have coming down the pipeline are going to shock the world!”
We’re guessing so… because Iggy is not having it.
According to Azalea's lawsuit, the music derived from her unreleased masters and constitutes violations of her copyright, trademark, name and likeness. She's also alleging conversion of stolen information from her computer which may include a sextape.
TMZ quoted Williams as saying he had an agreement that gave him exclusive rights to "manufacture, sell, distribute and advertise 'any' recording embodying visual images" of Azalea.
Check out details of the complaint via The Hollywood Reporter:
The complaint obtained by The Hollywood Reporter explains that around the time that Williams was living with Azalea in Atlanta, he introduced her to a man named Kareem Chapman as a potential manager. Shortly thereafter, Azalea signed an artist management agreement with Chapman's firm. Williams allegedly kept Azalea's copy.
That old agreement has allegedly been transformed into a "music recording and composition agreement" with sly finger work on Williams' part.
"The Forged Agreement contains tell-tale signs that it is not genuine," states the lawsuit. "For example, it includes mismatched fonts on the signature page, paragraph numbers out of sequence, a signature line for 'Wine Enterprises, inc.' [sic] (rather than for an authorized agent), and provides, as an address for legal notices, the contact information of an attorney who had no prior knowledge of the Forged Agreement."
So now Azalea asserts that Williams really has no real rights to her music and is suing him for violating copyright on such songs as “It Ain’t Tricking,” "U Ain't My Daddy," "Take My Picture," "Red Bottoms," "Supernova" and "Miss International."
She's also seeking a declaration that he and companies doing business with him have no right to use the "Iggy Azalea" mark or to control commercial uses of her name and likeness.
Again, there is no mention in the lawsuit of the supposed sex tape, but interestingly, the complaint mentions that the defendants came out with "promotional videos featuring an impersonator of Azalea."
Williams couldn't be reached for comment. According to the lawsuit filed by attorneys Howard King and Stephen Rothschild, the oil company that Williams mentioned to Azalea when the two met has been ordered to pay civil penalties of $3.6 million for "operating in a manner akin to a Ponzi scheme."
If true, this dude is a scum!
Photo via Billboard
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