Def Jam Sued For $20 Mil Over Chrisette Michelle Contract
Jan 23,2008 00:00
The man who claims responsibility for finding and developing Grammy-nominated R&B singer Chrisette Michelle is suing Island Def Jam for management rights to the songstress.Douglas "Biggs" Ellison has filed a $20 million dollar lawsuit against the label, claiming that Def Jam and Shalik Berry (A&R), in cahoots with Chrisettes' parents, tried to unlawfully weasel the artist out of her exclusive contracts with Ellison's production company, Four Kings Productions, Inc.
The lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court claims that Michelle's parents waited just long enough for Four Kings' hard work to pay off before stepping in and claiming the profits, according to a Four Kings press release.
"As soon as the artist's mother saw that Chrisette was receiving money, all a direct result of the efforts of the production company under its contracts with the artist, Lynette Payne quit her job as a teacher and, in willful disregard of the artist's contractual obligations to Four Kings, usurped management functions regarding her daughter's newly found success, in an effort to keep the money in the family," Ellison asserts in the lawsuit.
Ellison said he met with the Paynes and Berry in Def Jam's New York office and they tried to get him to release Michele from her contract with his company.
"Mr. Payne knew about his wife's attempts to take over management of their daughter's suddenly burgeoning career, and hoped that his role in trying to take over management of the artist could be kept in the background," Ellison's lawsuit states.
He further alleges that Def Jam, Berry and the Paynes made business decisions that essentially cut him out of receiving any monies from the sales of Michele's debut release, I AM. Ellison had already entered into a contract with Island Def Jam in September of 2005 and completed several songs that appeared on that album.
Michele filed a lawsuit against Ellison in July 2007, kicking off the court battle with claims that the production company honcho embezzled money from her and harassed her. Though she later withdrew that claim, Ellison said his reputation was scarred when the news hit the media.
Ellison also counter sued Michele for breach of contract in a previously filed lawsuit.
Michele was recently nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance for her song "If I Had My Way," featured on I AM.