Damon Dash will reportedly have to pay a six-figure sum after losing a recent lawsuit. According to TMZ, the Hip Hop mogul has been ordered to cough up $300,000 plus interest to author Edwyna Brooks after she claimed they’d made a deal in 2015 for Dash to direct a mafia film called Mafietta that was based on her books.
Brooks filed the lawsuit last year and said Dash wasted valuable time and resources on various “side projects” while filming the movie, including shooting a music video. Although Brooks ultimately fired Dash, he allegedly tried to claim co-authorship of the film and sell it on iTunes and his Dame Dash Studios website without getting Brooks’ permission.
“The copyright claim was incorrectly decided in our opinion as you were the dominant author,” Dash told the outlet. “In any event the damages awarded were based on pure speculation so both findings are being appealed.”
Dash has been involved several lawsuits over the years — both as the Defendant and Plaintiff. Last December, the New York native was hit with a $50 million sexual battery lawsuit by Hip Hop photographer Monique Bunn.
Then in 2018, he had a very public dispute with Lee Daniels over an old $2 million loan Dash said the Empire director never repaid. Subsequently, he filed a $5 million lawsuit against Daniels.
Dame Dash Hit With $50M Lawsuit For Allegedly Committing Sexual Battery On Sleeping Woman
But in November of that year, Dame filed documents in a New York court revealing he and Daniels had reached an agreement. They decided they will end their claims with prejudice and agreed the lawsuit couldn’t be refiled again. Both parties paid their respective legal fees and the case was closed. No further monetary details were disclosed in the legal documents.