Mathew Knowles Claims He Lost Out on $175 Million Deal Due to Lies Over Beyoncé
By TheBlast Staff on February 25, 2018 at 6:50 AM EST
Mathew Knowles says he lost out on a $175 million dollar deal because he claims his former lawyers spread lies about him selling off Beyoncé memorabilia.
Last year, Knowles was sued by his former lawyers, Lang Ferrer PLLC, accusing him of refusing to pay $50,000 for work they performed. The lawsuit included accusations Knowles held a silent auction during the 2017 Super Bowl weekend, where they claim he sold off Beyoncé and Destiny Child memorabilia.
The lawyers even said Knowles disposed of the money he pulled in from the auction to avoid paying back creditors, such as them. Knowles denied all the allegations and counter-sued the law firm for defamation.
Knowles said he did have an auction, but it was for athletic and sports items. He claimed the statements about him hawking Beyoncé items were repeatedly circulated and talked about in the press. Knowles was seeking $2 million in damages.
On February 21, Knowles filed new docs in the case accusing his former lawyers of having – prior to the lawsuit – threatening to make things "ugly for him" if he did not pay what Knowles called "excessive and unreasonable" legal invoices.
He says due to his refusal to pay the allegedly inflated bill, they spread "an absolute lie" to the press that he arranged and conducted an auction in which he supposedly sold his famous daughter’s memorabilia.
Beyoncé’s dad claims he was informed by people and businesses that they could not do business with him or his company, Music World, because of the reported claim that he had sold off his daughter’s memorabilia to avoid paying off his creditor.
The lost deals included one with Port Royal Resort worth $175 million. In addition, Knowles claims Texas Southern University cited the auction as one of the reasons why he could not be conferred a tenured professorship. He also claims he lost out on a deal to license a music catalog of more than 3,000 songs.
Knowles is demanding his lawsuit continue on and is asking the court not to dismiss the counter-suit.
