In the drama-filled world of the music game, there are often stories of friendships turned sour and business feuds that threaten to tear apart even the strongest relation.
Such is the case with Jay-Z and Dame Dash, two prominent figures in hip-hop, whose connection has seen it’s fair share of tension these days. But despite their differences, it looked like that there is still enough loyalty between them for Jay-Z to step in and save the day for his previous partner.
It all started when Dame Dash found himself in a legal feud with a film producer, Josh Webber, over an alleged debt of $832,000. As per to legal documents, Webber and his company, Muddy Waters Pictures, filed a case against Dame in 2022 in an attempt to collect their judgment.
Their plan? To go after Dash’s shares in Roc-A-Fella, the record company he co-founded with Jay-Z and Kareem “Biggs” Burke.
But Jay-Z and Biggs weren’t about to let that happen. They came to Dame’s defense and pumped the brakes on the process of selling his shares. This move was not entirely surprising, considering the history between the three co-founders.
Despite the fallout of Roc-A-Fella, it looked like that there is still enough mutual respect and camaraderie for Jay-Z to protect Dame Dash from losing his stake in the company.
To understand the gravity of the matter, let’s go back to 2016 when Dame Dash was fired as the director of Webber’s crime thriller movie, “Dear Frank.” It was claimed that Dash was unfit for the character, displaying abusive behavior towards staff and showing up to set under the influence.
This led to a series of legal altercation between Dash and Webber, including a case for copyright infringement and defamation, which resulted in a judgment against Dash in 2022.
While Dame Dash has yet to comply with the court order to pay off the judgment, Jay-Z and Biggs made it clear that they won’t let Dash’s shares be sold off without their consent. They argued that the bylaws of Roc-A-Fella require the full board’s approval for any significant sell-offs. Although U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger criticized this decision, saying that Dash wasn’t present at the board meeting where it was finalized, the court still ordered Dash to make his stock certification available within 180 days.