Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube are combating being deposed as a part of the lawsuit accusing them of fraud, Us Weekly can solely report. The rappers adamantly deny all allegations of wrongdoing within the case.
Snoop Dogg, 53, and Ice Dice, 56, filed courtroom docs in August asking a decide to rule they didn’t have to seem for a deposition scheduled for October, the place they had been set to be grilled concerning the details of a lawsuit introduced by an organization referred to as Westside Merchandise.
Legal professionals for the rappers mentioned the request to depose Snoop and Ice Dice was “harassing, oppressive, and burdensome” particularly “for these high-profile people who maintain busy schedules with agency commitments.” Snoop and Ice Dice’s lawyer additionally claimed the duo didn’t have something “substantive” to supply when it got here to details about the courtroom battle.
Snoop and Ice Dice mentioned they instructed the corporate they might converse to their affiliate Tony Draper however the firm has refused till they sit for depositions. Their lawyer mentioned it is a “clear tactic” to “pressure” a settlement.
On the time, Snoop mentioned he was taking pictures a film and was not free till October 21. Ice Dice mentioned he was in Florida dealing with his Big3 basketball league. Ice Dice mentioned he was additionally preparing for his tour.
Snoop Dogg and Ice Dice Kevin Winter/Getty Pictures for Coachella
The rappers mentioned if the courtroom did organize them to seem, they requested permission to testify nearly and that the deposition be restricted to 2 hours.
Westside Merchandise filed courtroom docs in September opposing Snoop and Ice Dice’s try to keep away from being deposed. The corporate mentioned it had been “extraordinarily cooperative” with the entertainer’s authorized crew in making an attempt to schedule the depositions.
The corporate demanded the courtroom sanction Snoop and Ice Dice by ordering them to pay $11,000 in charges for dragging out the case. A decide has but to rule.
Paras Griffin/Getty Pictures Ice Dice is making it recognized that he has zero affiliation with Sean “Diddy” Combs amid the latter’s intercourse trafficking and racketeering costs. “Virtually 40 years rocking the mic and I’m gonna inform you proper now,” the “It Was a Good Day” rapper, 55, instructed the gang at a Las Vegas live performance […]
The authorized drama began on November 18, 2024, when Westside Merchandising LLC sued Snoop, Ice Dice, E-40, Too Short and Mount Westmore LLC for breach of contract, fraud, conversion and numerous different claims.
Mount Westmore is a group consisting of Snoop, Ice Dice, E-40, 57, and Too Brief, 59. The legendary musicians, who’ve labored collectively for years, launched their debut album in 2022.
Within the lawsuit, the merch firm mentioned it entered right into a deal in 2022 with the rappers to be the unique vendor for Mount Westmore merchandise.
Snoop Dogg Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Pictures
Westside Merchandising mentioned it supplied the rappers with sure advances and royalties resulting from it being instructed that Mount Westmore deliberate to go on a 60-date tour in America and Europe, the place the merchandise can be bought to followers.
“[Westside Merchandising] was additionally assured that Snoop Dogg and Ice Dice, each of whom had been outlined as key males beneath the [agreement], would publicize and promote the settlement by producing a promotional video to be posted on [Mount Westmore’s] social media accounts and by showing at a retail location of Westside’s alternative,” a lawyer for the corporate wrote. “None of this occurred.”
“Actually, the one look Defendants made was a VIP meet and greet occasion at which Snoop Dogg appeared to promote his personal merchandise, slightly,” the lawyer added.
The corporate mentioned it paid the defendants a complete of $1.375 million after the contract was executed, just for the rappers to allegedly bail on their contractual obligations.
The swimsuit mentioned Mount Westmore didn’t carry out the 60 concert events they promised. “As an alternative, they appeared at a mere three concert events in 2022, and 0 concert events in 2023 or 2024.” The corporate additionally alleged Snoop and Ice did not “make the required promotional movies to advertise” the merchandise “as required by the phrases” of the deal.
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The corporate, who demanded the return of their cash and punitive damages, claimed that regardless of repeated requests, Snoop and the opposite defendants have refused to return the “upfront fee of $1,375,000 that they obtained from Westside.”
In response, Snoop, Ice Dice and the opposite defendants argued the corporate failed to supply sufficient proof to again up sure claims of their case. Too Brief and E-40 mentioned they weren’t even events to the settlement.
E40 and Too Brief Maury Phillips/WireImage
Frank Seddigh, a lawyer for the defendants, tells Us, “Snoop Dogg, Ice Dice, E-40, and Too Brief, collectively often known as Mount Westmore, have at all times carried out their enterprise in good religion and with integrity. Regardless of a number of makes an attempt to resolve this matter amicably, Westside Merchandising has refused to cooperate or have interaction in good-faith discussions.”
Seddigh added, “Furthermore, the corporate has did not uphold its contractual obligations by withholding royalty funds and gross sales accounting which are rightfully owed to our purchasers. We intend to take all crucial steps to compel compliance. The details and the regulation will in the end present that Westside Merchandising’s claims towards our purchasers are totally baseless and with out benefit.”
John Fowler, an lawyer for Westside Merchandise, tells Us, “Defendants on this case try to cover from having their depositions taken as a result of they’re fearful of answering troublesome questions regarding their swindle.”
Fowler added, “The defendants took my consumer’s cash, promising to be an upstanding accomplice targeted on touring and merchandising efforts, solely to run away with seven figures of funding, and failing to supply something in return. My purchasers had been bought a invoice of products, and have misplaced hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in merchandising alternatives, whereas the defendants have enriched themselves at my consumer’s expense.”
He ended, “The defendants don’t have any actual authorized defenses to the case, and their technique has been merely to delay the inevitable. Defendant Too Brief has publicly acknowledged that they had been simply ‘too wealthy and busy’ to concentrate on Mount Westmore, which is clearly not a legit protection in a courtroom of regulation. We stay up for making an attempt this case.”
