Meek Mill Uses Justin Bieber And Lil Wayne In Plea To Avoid Videotaped Court Deposition
By Ryan Naumann on September 25, 2019 at 7:56 AM EDT
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Meek Mill is asking a judge to not allow filming while he is grilled about a shooting outside his 2016 concert.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Meek is pleading for his upcoming court deposition to not be taped, pointing to Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne's past videotaped depositions leaking online.
Meek has been battling multiple lawsuits over a shooting outside his concert. The families of two men killed sued for wrongful death. They blame Meek and the venue for failing to provide adequate security. Meek has denied any wrongdoing and argued he could not be responsible for third parties.
Recently, the estate of Jaquan Graves (who was killed) demanded Meek sit for a deposition by the end of the month. They accused him of “repeatedly” refusing to appear for a video-conferenced deposition.
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In newly filed docs, Meek says he already agreed to appear for a deposition, “following the conclusion of his tour at the end of September, and has agreed to conduct the deposition by videoconference or in-person in New York City (as opposed to Philadelphia)”
Meek says he began rehearsals for the tour in August, which ends on September 29. He is willing to be deposed the week after the tour ends.
He does not want to the deposition to be videotaped. Meek says, “This request is born out of a concern that a copy of the recording could be made public. Mill is a public figure and recent other high-profile leaks of deposition recordings are a significant cause for alarm.”
He adds, “Once these leaks occur, the tabloids and press often edit the video in a misleading way, which has the real potential to cause significant harm to Mill’s reputation and brand.”
Meek points to depositions of Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne leaking in the past. He is pleading with the judge to order the deposition NOT be taped.
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Back in 2017, the rapper was sued by the estate of Jaquan Graves for wrongful death after Graves was shot and killed outside Meek’s 2016 concert in Connecticut while he was leaving the show.
Meek was also hit with a separate lawsuit by the estate of Travis Ward, who was killed during the shooting outside the venue. Both estates have offered to settle their cases for $3 million each.
The three lawsuits accused Meek – along with the Oakdale Musical Theatre Company and Live Nation – of being negligent in the handling of security of the concert. One suit even pointed to Meek’s lyrics claiming they incite violence and described how Meek’s concert have had shootings in the past.
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Meek has denied all allegations he was negligent or had any role in contributing to the shooting, saying it was out of his control and he could not have known the shooting was going to happen.
The rapper has demanded he be let out of Graves lawsuit. Meek Mill claims police found gunshot residue on the decedent, “which indicate that he discharged a firearm during the melee.”
