This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Lil Durk faces federal murder-for-hire charges over allegedly ordering his associates to kill a rival rapper; Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyer threatens legal action over false reports about Tory Lanez being declared “innocent”; Ye and Adidas reach a settlement to resolve legal disputes over the end of their Yeezy partnership; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Lil Durk Charged With Murder For Hire Plot
Two years after the rapper Quando Rondo was ambushed by gunmen at a Los Angeles gas station, federal prosecutors charged Chicago drill star Lil Durk with ordering the attack ––an assault they say was retribution for the 2020 killing of rising star King Von.
The Chicago rapper (real name Durk Devontay Banks) was arrested as he attempted to flee the country on a private jet, hours after several of his Only the Family associates were indicted on similar charges over their alleged involvement in the attack, which left Rondo unscathed but saw his cousin killed in the crossfire.
Much like the ongoing case in Atlanta against Young Thug and his YSL group, prosecutors say Only The Family was not merely a well-publicized group of Chicago rappers, but a “hybrid organization” that also functioned as a criminal gang to carry out violent acts “at the direction” of Durk.
“Mr. Banks is charged with orchestrating a cold-blooded murder that resulted in the death of a rival’s family member,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “Violent gun crime of this sort is devastating to our community and we will have zero-tolerance for those who perpetrate such callous acts of violence.”
For more, go read our full story here, which includes access to the actual charging documents unveiled against Durk.
Other top stories…
FAKE NEWS DEBUNKED – False claims circulated on social media over the weekend that a California appeals court had declared Tory Lanez “innocent” in the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion. That’s not at all what actually happened, and now Megan’s attorney is threatening legal action over the “nonsense” that went viral: “They’re going to face consequences.”
DIDDY SUED YET AGAIN – Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with two new civil abuse lawsuits, including one that accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in a New York City hotel room in 2005. The second case accused the hip-hop mogul of similarly assaulting a 17-year-old would-be contestant on the reality television series Making the Band in 2008. Combs is currently in jail awaiting trial on sweeping federal criminal charges over decades of alleged sexual abuse.
CHAOS IN YSL CASE – Young Thug’s long-running Atlanta gang trial was once again thrown into chaos after a state’s witness accidentally revealed sensitive information to the jury — a mistake the judge quickly attributed to “sloppiness” from prosecutors. The move left the judge contemplating whether to declare a mistrial and sparked plea deal negotiations between the government and the defendants. It’s only the latest delay in a criminal trial that has stretched across 10 months of jury selection and 11 months of testimony to become the longest-ever in state history.
YEEZY SETTLEMENT – Adidas reached a settlement with Ye (formerly Kanye West) to resolve all outstanding legal claims stemming from the company’s decision to end its partnership with the rapper and his Yeezy brand. The deal came two years after Adidas terminated its lucrative partnership with the rapper over his antisemitic statements and erratic behavior.
DEPOSITION DRAMA – The Texas Supreme Court ruled that Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino must sit for a deposition in the ongoing litigation over the 2021 disaster at the Astroworld music festival, rejecting Live Nation’s argument that the exec wasn’t closely involved in festival operations. Victims’ lawyers cited an email Rapino sent the night of the disaster ordering another employee to wait for more info before canceling the rest of the festival: “If 5 died we would cancel,” he wrote in the message.
WHAT’S IN A NAME? Beyoncé’s attorneys once again asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register her daughter’s name as a trademark, more than 12 years after she and Jay-Z first sought to lock up the intellectual property rights “Blue Ivy Carter.” In the latest filing, they pushed back on concerns that consumers might confuse Blue Ivy’s name with another Blue Ivy: a single-store clothing boutique in Wisconsin that has used the name since before the young Carter was born.