Into the pop courts, and rapper Remy Ma is facing an $80 million lawsuit in relation to those previously reported allegations she shot a woman in a row over money. The rapper is already facing criminal proceedings over the allegations, and the civil lawsuit comes the day before a pre-trial hearing for the case.
Ma is accused of shooting Makeda Barnes-Joseph twice in the abdomen back in July. The rapper allegedly believed Barnes-Joseph had stolen two grand off her. In a slight twist, Universal Music and Sure Shot Recordings, both of whom work with the rapper, are named as defendants in the lawsuit, which reportedly claims that they were responsible for cultivating Ma's street image, which, I'm assuming, they are trying to say made the rapper more likely to shoot Barnes-Joseph. Presumably her lawyers are keen to name the labels, especially Universal, because they would be more able to get their hands of $80 million. Still, they're stretching the law to extend liability for the alleged crime to the rapper's commercial partners.
Comment on the suit, Barnes-Joseph's attorney, Lauren P Raysor, told the Voice: "Only by pursuing those who we believe are legally responsible for this vicious and callous act of violence, can we hope to put an end to this senseless cycle of violence that is glorified by hip hop marketing".
But Ma's lawyer dismissed the litigation, which follows on and steps up an earlier lawsuit from the alleged victim, telling a reporters: "It strikes me that this is part of a publicity stunt. The claims she makes are inaccurate. She reaches into every conceivable deep pocket... it's grossly irresponsible."
Ma maintains her innocence in both the criminal and civil cases against her.