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Legal
Lil Wayne sues over documentary
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 3 April 2009
Lil Wayne, and his Universal/Cash Money imprint Young Money Entertainment, are suing QD3 Entertainment and Digerati Holdings, both owned by Quincy Jones III, son of the producer Quincy Jones, over claims that they screened a documentary film about the rapper, real name Dwayne Carter, without his approval, despite a previous agreement saying such approval would be sought.
The suit, filed at the LA Superior Court on 23 Mar, charges the companies, as well as named and unnamed individuals, with various counts of fraud and invasion of privacy. The main thrust of the legal action, however, is the claim that the companies went ahead with the aforementioned screening without consent, despite apparently having agreed with the hip-hop star that he could approve the final cut of the movie before its release.
‘The Carter’, which was screened to some acclaim at the Sundance Festival in January, was filmed over the course of several months and features concert and studio footage, interviews, and up-close and personal moments with the controversial star.
The suit explains that QD3 and Digerati approached Lil Wayne with the documentary idea back in 2007, and in December that year the star signed an agreement to make himself available for filming, as well as making photos and footage from his own personal archive available, an agreement which also stipulated that he was to be allowed “approval rights as to the final cut of the picture” with particular reference to the depiction of any potentially criminal activity. When copies of the film were submitted to Wayne’s management in December 2008, they claim that they asked that certain scenes be removed, and demanded that the film not be screened at Sundance unless the cuts were made. The film was subsequently screened as it was, on four separate occasions.
Lil Wayne’s people not only accuse the film-makers of breaking their agreement, they suggest that it was always QD3’s plan to portray the hip hop star in a negative way. They are seeking an injunction to prevent the distribution of the film, on the basis that it will damage the star’s career.
If the documentary doesn’t damage his career, perhaps Wayne’s determination to produce a rock album will. For the hip-hop superstar has been telling Rolling Stone magazine that it’s time to move on, you know, shake things up. The music mag quote Wayne as saying: “The rock shit just comes from what my life is now. I’ve grown into this person. I just got – I’m not going to say ‘so good’ at what I was doing, but it became such a regularity for me that I got tired of it. And then I said, ‘You know what? I’m not going to rap on this one'”.
