Mario ends legal dispute with Matthew Knowles

A lawsuit against Beyonce's dad and manager Matthew Knowles in relation to a dispute between American R&B star Mario and artist manager Troy Patterson has been dropped. Mario Barrett began legal proceedings against Patterson, owner of Third Street Entertainment and the singer's former manager, just under a year ago over allegations the manager "took advantage" of Mario's mother when she was unable to make decisions because of her drug addiction and, in doing so, cheated him out of monies he should have earned in relation to his first album release (or something like that, I'm not 100% clear on this). Knowles was involved because Barrett accused him of advising Patterson to act in the way he did in relation to the singer's affairs. However, with Patterson and Barrett having reached an out of court settlement in late 2006, all legal action against Knowles has now also been resolved.