Azealia Banks’ scathing breach of contract lawsuit against ex-manager Jeff Kwatinetz survived mostly intact after a court challenge Thursday, but a judge stripped out two paragraphs accusing the music manager of “racism.”
At a hearing in downtown L.A., Judge Yolanda Orozco said the paragraphs – which refer to recanted allegations from ex-NBA star Roger Mason Jr. that Kwatinetz used racial slurs to describe players and investors in the BIG3 Basketball league he co-founded with Ice Cube – “have nothing to do with the case.”
“I’m not at all convinced that the allegation of (racism) was a motive,” Judge Orozco told Banks’ lawyer, Mark Passin, referring to the complaint as written. “That does not prevent you from developing that theory, if it’s your theory, in your case.”
Passin stated that the issue would be relevant if Banks needed to prove it “malice, oppression or fraud”Kwatinetz may be entitled to punitive damages, if she prevails.
“The allegation that Kwatinetz’s actions may have been partially motivated by racism is relevant, we believe. If it is true, it shows that he’s more likely than not to have failed to pay Banks and committed the other wrongful acts,” Passin argued. “It’s highly relevant to punitive damages because it shows despicable conduct.”
The judge said her decision at this stage of the legal battle doesn’t preclude Banks from attempting to raise the claim again: “I don’t see anywhere in my tentative (ruling) where I said that the issue of racism can’t be raised for punitive damages.”
Banks’ lawsuit – filed Nov. 18 with allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, fraud and deceit – accuses Kwatinetz of posing as a “romantic suitor”To control, manipulate and “steal”From her.
It says Kwatinetz was involved in an “egregious breach of fiduciary duty” when he signed on as Banks’ manager and then brokered a 2014 deal in which his music label Prospect Park received a 15-year license to exploit her A Broke with Expensive TasteAn agreement to split net earnings 50-50.
According to Banks’ filing, Prospect Park collected album revenues of nearly $1.5 million and then deducted “outrageous”She claimed that she was paid $15,345. She claims she’s only been paid $15,345.
Banks’ cross-complaint was filed after Kwatinetz sued her first in 2020, later dismissed the litigation for “extensive negotiations”And then, in September last year, he was sued again with claims for stalking.
Kwatinetz, on the other hand, claims A Broke with Expensive TasteWas a “financial failure” due to Banks’ “self-defeating acts,”Banks later began a. “terrifying”Banks posted photos of herself outside his Los Angeles home in a smear operation against him. “inciting her fans to take up her cause.”
Judge Orozco split her decision Thursday and decided that the two paragraphs were about “racism”Another paragraph accusing Kwatinetz was a prolific litigant must be deleted. The vast majority of material Kwatinetz attempted to strike could still remain, including claims about Kelly Clarkson and the Backstreet Boys, as well as claims Kwatinetz misrepresented Banks with. “sleepovers,”Gifts, professions of love, and other “charming”Behavior when he was 49 and she was 23 years old.
Banks claims Kwatinetz sent her emails bragging about how he brought back the Backstreet Boys in the paragraphs that survived. “back from obscurity”Before the boy band fired him, he was a “bs commission fight”Clarkson and the way he made Clarkson “the biggest is the world”Because she claimed she was, she had to let him go. “in love”He became angry at him after he began to argue with him “told her to start working out because she had a lot of TV coming up.”
“The judge struck allegations that are garbage and bogus, and were included to harass Mr. Kwatinetz. We look forward to exposing the balance of the cross-complaint as more of the same,”Kwatinetz’s second lawyer, Mike Taitelman told Rolling StoneAfter the hearing.
“We’re happy that we won the vast majority of the motions,”Passin stated Thursday.
Banks and her lawyer claimed that Mason only retracts his claims that Kwatinetz was part a hostile and racist work environment at BIG3. He reached a secret settlement behind closed door doors. They claimed they hoped to get a copy the purported settlement via discovery.