Lil Wayne Sued for Over $20 Million By His Managers Over Unpaid Commissions
By Liz Walters on December 10, 2020 at 3:41 PM EST
Lil Wayne’s managers, Ronald Sweeney and Avant Garde Management claim they have been deprived of over $20 million in unpaid management commissions.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the two have sued Lil Wayne over alleged unpaid commission payments, saying “they worked tirelessly as Lil Wayne’s manager and close confidante for nearly 14 years, managing his manages, all of his entities, his ‘friends’, his enemies, and his lawyers”.
They also claim they have managed over 30 lawsuits, which brought in a substantial amount of money for the rapper, and for which they say they “received very little compensation”.
In legal documents, Sweeney and Avant Garde Management claim Lil Wayne has relied on them for almost every professional and personal aspect of his life, and has “failed and refused to pay Plaintiffs his promised 10% of the recovery from lawsuits, 10% of the sale of master recordings owned by Lil Wayne’s record label, and then 17% in general commissions that he owes to Plaintiffs in connection with Plaintiff’s day to day management activities”.
Around 2005, Lil Wayne hired Sweeney to help him with a terrible contractual arrangement that Lil Wayne had with Cash Money Records. Sweeney claims he was extremely successful in the endeavor, completely renegotiating Lil Wayne’s deal, and securing for him a new recording agreement, as well as the return of his publishing, merchandising, and touring rights. Sweeney claims the rapper orally agreed to hire Plaintiffs as his personal manager and as the manager of his own record label and other Young Money business entities .
Sweeney claims his management efforts of Lil Wayne has generated tens, if not millions of dollars in revenue for the rapper and his companies. During his tenure with Lil Wayne, Sweeney says he “protected him from his record company, his other managers, and a vast amount of parasites and others who were trying to advantage of Lil Wayne; in fact, on more than one occasion, Plaintiffs essentially had to protect Lil Wayne from Lil Wayne, himself”.
Lil Wayne had to sue his own company because he was “asset rich” and “cash poor”. Sweeney claims Lil Wayne agreed to paid him out of the proceeds from the lawsuit with Cash Money, as well as proceeds from the sale of master recordings in exchange for Plaintiff’s continued management of him.
Lil Wayne is no stranger to legal drama. He was recently charged with federal gun possession in Miami Federal Court. The rapper is facing several years in prison because he is a convicted felon. When Lil Wayne landed in Miami on a private plane, authorities searched the rapper’s luggage and found a gold-plated. The Miami Herald reported that a search warrant revealed Lil Wayne told investigators the gun was a Father’s Day gift.
