Damon Dash Movie Creditors Say Bankruptcy Just a Ploy to Delay $5M Payment

A caller tribunal filing claims Damon Dash’s caller bankruptcy petition is simply a “bad faith” effort to dilatory down postulation of a astir $5 cardinal debt, comparing the Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder to notorious Infowars big Alex Jones.

Dash declared bankruptcy successful Florida connected Sept. 4, saying helium owes much than $25 cardinal and has conscionable implicit $4,000 to his name. The grounds enforcement filed a alleged Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, successful which an individual’s assets are sold disconnected to wage creditors, and remaining debts tin beryllium erased.

The bulk of Dash’s indebtedness consists of astir $19 cardinal successful unpaid taxes. But helium is besides plagued by creditors Joshua Webber and accumulation institution Muddy Water Pictures, who erstwhile worked with Dash and who present clasp much than $4.8 cardinal worthy of tribunal judgments against him for copyright infringement and defamation.

Webber and Muddy Waters person had a unsmooth clip trying to cod wealth from Dash implicit the years, and they said successful a Sunday (Sept. 14) missive to the New York national justice overseeing the litigation that bankruptcy is conscionable Dash’s latest ploy to frustrate the repayment process. The filmmakers comparison Dash to Jones, who unsuccessfully tried to usage bankruptcy to debar paying his ain $1.3 cardinal defamation judgement to the families of Sandy Hook victims.

“It is good settled instrumentality that Dash cannot discharge the supra indebtedness successful bankruptcy,” wrote Webber and Muddy Waters’ lawyer Christopher Brown. “Dash is simply attempting to dilatory the plaintiffs’ attempts to cod their judgments. Dash stands successful the aforesaid ineligible presumption arsenic Alex Jones.”

This tribunal filing besides claims Dash’s bankruptcy petition is “riddled” with falsehoods, noting that the database of assets successful the petition omits aggregate LLCs that Dash controls, arsenic good arsenic his “most invaluable asset:” his beingness rights.  

“Dash’s ‘life rights’ is an plus owed to his transportation to Roc-A-Fella Records Inc. and his erstwhile spouse Jay-Z,” wrote Brown. “In fact, Dash has been processing a script/movie connected his beingness rights and has publically addressed the issue. It is nary concealed that Dash is processing ‘The Roc-A-Fella Movie.’ This plus should person been listed successful the Petition for imaginable liquidation.”

In response, Dash’s attorney, Natraj Bhushan, filed his ain missive to the tribunal connected Monday (Sept. 15) claiming Webber and Muddy Waters’ filing violates the automatic intermission connected litigation that comes with declaring bankruptcy.

Dash’s bankruptcy counsel, Brian Zinn, likewise says successful a Tuesday (Sept. 16) connection to Billboard that if Webber and Muddy “believe their debts are non-dischargeable, oregon that Mr. Dash’s bankruptcy petition is deficient, the Bankruptcy Court successful the Middle District of Florida has exclusive jurisdiction to find that.”

“While it whitethorn travel with a antagonistic societal preconceived notion, bankruptcy is simply a ineligible instrumentality that galore palmy radical person utilized to restructure their obligations to marque their debts much manageable,” says Zinn. “Through our extended experience, it is wide that Mr. Dash’s lawsuit is nary different. Mr. Dash’s bankruptcy filing volition halt astir lawsuits and different postulation activities. It volition springiness him breathing country to signifier his finances and rebuild his credit. He whitethorn besides beryllium capable to destruct immoderate oregon astir of his debts.”

Webber and Muddy Waters person been successful a ineligible warfare with Dash since 2019, erstwhile they filed suit claiming the grounds enforcement was trying to illegally assertion ownership of their movie Dear Frank. The filmmakers said that portion Dash initially signed connected to nonstop the movie, helium spent the bulk of the sprout “inebriated connected marijuana, belligerent and aggressive.”

That lawsuit went to proceedings successful 2022, and Webber and Muddy Waters won a corporate $823,000 successful damages from Dash. Webber sued Dash again for defamation successful 2024, claiming the Roc-A-Fella co-founder was continuing to assertion publically that Webber really stole the movie from him.

A justice ruled this past February that Dash had forfeited his close to support against those allegations by blowing past lawsuit deadlines and ignoring tribunal orders. Dash was deed with a $4 cardinal default judgement — the terms of a antithetic movie declaration that Webber allegedly mislaid owed to Dash’s nationalist accusations of theft.

Meanwhile, Dash’s one-third involvement successful Roc-A-Fella was Read Entire Article