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After a $6.6 million judgment against him for failing to perform a rap collab, Yo Gotti is asking a judge to vacate the settlement.
Judge Todd Burke of Forsyth Superior Court awarded the $6.6 million settlement to Michael Terry, manager of rapper Young Fletcher. The case was over a $20,000 payment Yo Gotti — real name Mario Mims — was paid to perform a verse on Young Fletcher’s song. The deal was struck to bring attention to Young Fletcher as a relatively new rapper.
Yo Gotti never signed the paperwork for the song’s release, which means Young Fletcher couldn’t legally release the song. In the ruling, An affidavit filed with the lawsuit alleged that Yo Gotti’s performance would have helped Young Fletcher get more attention. The affidavit also says Yo Gotti attempted to get Fletcher to sign with his label, Epic Records.
A non-jury trial occurred last month, with Judge Burke ruling that Yo Gotti engaged in deceptive and unfair trade practices.
The ruling offered Fletcher $2.2 million in damages and then tripled that number to $6.6 million. Yo Gotti and his attorneys were not present at the trial on May 28th and filed no written letter in answer to the suit. The suit was filed in the Forsyth Superior Court on January 24th, 2018.
According to Yo Gotti’s attorneys, the rapper was never officially served with the lawsuit. Instead, a member of his security team received a complaint from the sheriff’s deputy. The security team member did not have the authority to accept the lawsuit on Yo Gotti’s behalf. Now his attorneys are asking the judge to vacate the $6.6 million judgments against him.
Yo Gotti never signed a side-artist agreement to allow the song’s release, despite Terry and Young Fletcher’s attempts to contact him. Yo Gotti even recorded a song with the verse he initially recorded for Young Fletcher’s song. Fletcher’s lawyers argue that releasing the verse makes it appear as though their plaintiff copied Yo Gotti, rather than collaborating with him.