Pras Michel Sues Fugees Bandmate Lauryn Hill in Lawsuit Over Split

Lauryn Hill has been sued for fraud and breach of contract by Fugees bandmate Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, who alleges he was cheated out of his justifiable share of income from the group’s tour final yr.

In a lawsuit filed in New York federal courtroom on Tuesday, Michel accuses Hill of illicitly taking a 40 p.c minimize of the tour’s proceeds “off the highest” earlier than splitting the remainder. He seeks unspecified damages and a courtroom order nullifying the contracts he signed in change for becoming a member of Hill’s condensed 2023 tour, which allegedly relinquished a few of his mental property rights and proceeds from the Fugees’ future creative endeavors.

The grievance was filed as Hill and Wyclef Jean moved ahead with plans for a European tour after their run of exhibits in North America was canceled days earlier than it was supposed to start out resulting from poor ticket gross sales. It particulars a contentious break up between Hill and Michel, who gained’t be becoming a member of his bandmates.

Hill in 2023 introduced a solo tour to commemorate the twenty fifth anniversary of her Grammy-winning album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Later that yr, she pitched reuniting the Fugees as a part of the tour.

On the time, Michel was preventing allegations of fraud from the federal government for allegedly directing a sprawling conspiracy during which he funneled cash from Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho to a community of straw donors to make unlawful marketing campaign contributions for Barack Obama in 2012. After refusing a plea deal, he was discovered responsible final yr for his position within the looting of roughly $4.5 billion from Malaysia’s state-owned funding fund.

Michel says he agreed to affix Hill on the tour to fund efforts to overturn the conviction. He acquired an advance in opposition to his one-third share of the tour’s anticipated income and accepted “onerous phrases he would have usually rejected,” together with ceding artistic management of the tour to Hill and agreeing to license the group’s trademark for reside exhibits in later years, no matter whether or not he was included, based on the lawsuit.

Underneath the settlement, the group was to equally break up a $750,000 cost per present. However Michel alleges he later realized that MLH, Hill’s firm managing the tour, was really being paid roughly $1.26 million. They “did not confide in Michel that the 2023 Fugees Tour accounting was arrange in order that Hill and MLH took a 40 p.c minimize of the tour ensures and web income ‘off the highest’ earlier than calculating Michel’s 1/3 share.”

Because of the alleged scheme, Michel argues he was defrauded into getting into contracts he wouldn’t have had he identified the reality. These agreements detailed management of future creative endeavors, together with recording providers, possession of recording tasks and reside performances. 

Moreover, the lawsuit blames Hill for the bungled 2024 tour in North America, which was canceled resulting from poor ticket gross sales. Hill earlier this yr entered into an settlement with Reside Nation for an 18-show Fugees tour scheduled to kick off in August. Reside Nation, nonetheless, solely agreed to advertise the tour if Jean and Michel agreed to carry out with Hill because the Fugees, based on the grievance.

Negotiations faltered when Hill’s managers informed Michel that he nonetheless owed almost $1 million as a result of he did not recoup his advance from the 2023 tour, which led to him discovering the uneven break up, the grievance claims. Though they later reached a deal, which offered Michel one other advance to pay his legal professionals, Reside Nation allegedly couldn’t correctly market the tour in time for there to be adequate ticket gross sales, says the lawsuit, which takes subject with Hill unilaterally rejecting a $5 million provide for the group to carry out at Coachella.

Robert Meloni, a lawyer for Michel, stated in a press release that Hill “exploited” his consumer’s “susceptible authorized scenario, manipulating him into an unfair settlement for the Fugees’ 2023 reunion tour.” He careworn that Hill “misrepresented vital monetary info and hid her intent to take an extreme 60 p.c share of the tour’s proceeds, leaving Mr. Michel with solely 20 p.c as an alternative of the group’s customary one-third break up.”