Lil Uzi Vert has been sued by M99 Studios, an LA-based creative agency that specialises in concert design, direction and production, over unpaid fees that allegedly exceed half a million dollars.
The lawsuit, says the creative agency, has been prompted by the rapper”s “failure and refusal to provide M99 with payments due and owing for services duly rendered related to live festival and tour performances”. As well as the rapper, real name Symere Bysil Woods, their company Uzivert LLC and manager Amina Diop are also named as defendants.
M99 says it has worked with Woods throughout the majority of their touring career. The rapper “relied heavily” on M99, it claims, for all of their “creative ideas, production, and staffing for all tours, shows and performances”. Not only that, but Woods “regularly requested unrealistic designs and concepts with little to no timeline, trusting M99 to execute them flawlessly”.
Providing some examples of those unrealistic requests, the lawsuit says that, immediately prior to a performance at Rolling Loud LA, Woods demanded “a bounce house, wooden crosses and mannequins to be added to the show, all of which M99 was forced to procure, build, incorporate with other set pieces, and pay for with essentially zero prior notice”.
At a Rolling Loud Miami show, Woods told M99 to “procure thirty adult dancers” to appear in the set “only hours before the show was scheduled to begin. M99 managed to fulfil this request, along with countless other last-minute demands all at significant time, effort and expense”.
The lawsuit then sets out various issues it has had getting paid for its work with Woods over the years, but the real problems started last year when invoices stopped being paid entirely.
When the debts topped $700,000, M99 informed Diop that it could no longer work for the rapper until its invoices had been paid. A $100,000 payment was then made with a promise that the outstanding debts would be cleared once the next leg of Wood’s tour, in Australia, was complete. However, no such payment came.
“After the Australia tour, M99 ceased doing work for the artist and decided not to bill for the Australian services in hopes of parting ways amicably”, the lawsuit explains.
With $533,499.81 still owing, “M99 continued to follow up with Diop regarding the outstanding invoices. Diop consistently promised that all invoices would be paid, acknowledging that the work was complete and satisfactory, and assuring M99 that everyone involved was aware that the money was owed and needed to be paid”.
In March this year, Diop said a payment would be made as soon as Woods got an advance for their next album from their label. However, M99 says it has since learned that that advance had already been paid by that point, “which Diop would be fully aware of prior to her conversation with M99”.
With the $533,499.81 still outstanding, M99 wants the court to issue an order forcing Woods and Diop to settle the debt, and also pay the creative agency’s legal costs and “punitive damages as deemed appropriate” by the judge.