Lauryn Hill is being sued by her Fugees bandmate over allegations of fraud and breach of contract.
Source: ANGELA WEISS / Getty
Pras Michél, a founding member of the hip-hop group alongside Hill and Wyclef Jean, is suing his bandmate for fraud and breach of contract, stemming from their 2023 tour, according to reports from Variety.
In a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, Michél alleges that Hill completely mismanaged the setup, marketing, and budgeting of their canceled 2023 tour, calling it “a veiled and devious attempt to make a big score for herself.” He also accuses the singer of secretly siphoning off money from the tour guarantees.
The complaint claims that the 2023 Fugees tour should have been “a huge commercial success, since most of shows for the entire arena size tour were sold out in advance.” But, in the end, Michél claims he came away empty-handed because Hill controlled the tour budget “that was so bloated with unnecessary and, most likely fictitious, expenses, that it seemed designed to lose money.”
Not only that, the tour was cut short when Hill abruptly canceled the second half in November 2023 due to “serious vocal strain.”
The lawsuit includes many stories about Hill’s alleged behavior, including one involving her turning down a $5 million offer for the Fugees to perform at Coachella this year because she felt snubbed by No Doubt getting top billing.
“Hill’s arrogance was again demonstrated when she unilaterally rejected a $5 Million offer [to play Coachella]. The reason was that her ego was bruised since the group No Doubt would be receiving top billing over The Fugees the night of their show,” the complaint claims. “Hill never told Pras about the offer or that she had was rejected it. Pras only learned about it when it was too late, after Hill, in an astonishing display of hubris, asked Pras if he would agree to perform a few Fugees songs for free as the opening act for her son, ‘YG’ Marley, who was slated to perform at the same Coachella festival.”
Hill allegedly proposed the idea of a Fugees reunion in spring 2023 to Wyclef Jean while reeling from a failed solo tour. According to the complaint, she “realized that the only chance for her to perform at arena-size venues and feed her insatiable ego would be to reunite with Michél and Jean and bill the 25th-anniversary tour as a ‘Fugees” tour.’”
When Jean brought the idea to Michél, he was in the middle of a four-year legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice. The lawsuit claims Hill exploited Michél’s situation and need for money due to mounting legal fees.
Unfortunately, the tour ended up doing very little to help Michél cover his legal bills and left him owing nearly $1 million in unrecouped expenses. According to the complaint, this is because “Hill was taking 40% of the tour guarantees and tour net profits ‘off the top’ for herself, leaving the remaining 60% to be split equally between Hill, Pras, and Wyclef.”
At the top of 2024, Hill allegedly entered into a new agreement with Live Nation for an 18-show Fugees U.S. tour scheduled to kick off in August 2024, though she never disclosed the agreement to Michél. Ticket sales were dismal, which Michél blames on Hill, and as a result, Live Nation pulled the plug on the U.S tour in August.
At the time, Hill blamed the media for the canceled tour, releasing a statement that said:
“Last year, I faced an injury that necessitated the rescheduling of some of my shows. Regrettably, some media outlets’ penchant for sensationalism and clickbait headlines have seemingly created a narrative that has affected ticket sales for the North American portion of the tour.”
The suit also blames the singer for “tarnish[ing] the Fugees brand” due to “her habit of showing up late for shows, sometimes by as many as two to three hours.”
Pras Michél’s attorney Robert S. Meloni of Meloni & McCaffrey, released a statement to BOSSIP on the pending litigation calling Lauryn’s “chronic tardiness” a “hallmark of the tour.”
“This morning, we filed a complaint for Prakazrel ‘Pras’ Michel against Lauryn Hill and MLH Touring, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Case 1:24-cv-07403) for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract. The lawsuit alleges that Ms. Hill exploited Mr. Michel’s vulnerable legal situation, manipulating him into an unfair agreement for The Fugees’ 2023 reunion tour.
Ms. Hill’s chronic tardiness was a hallmark of the tour, with shows routinely starting two or more hours late. Hill cancelled the second half of the tour and, at the same time, financially penalized and defrauded Mr. Michel.”
He continued,
“We assert that Ms. Hill misrepresented critical financial information and concealed her intent to take an excessive 60% share of the tour’s proceeds, leaving Mr. Michel with only 20% instead of the group’s customary one-third split. This legal action aims to hold Ms. Hill accountable and secure justice for Mr. Michel. The lawsuit comes on the cusp of the “Fugees” European tour by Hill and Wyclef Jean, at which Michael will not be performing.”