Nicki Minaj Faces Renewed Bid for $295,605 in Unpaid Legal Fees
The law firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani has renewed its request for a default judgment against Nicki Minaj, asking a Los Angeles County court to order her to pay $295,605. The firm says the sum covers services, fees and interest under its agreement with her. The renewed request was filed as the rapper was campaigning for Republican candidates in New Hampshire.
A default judgment is a ruling a court can enter when one side in a lawsuit does not respond. The firm filed its lawsuit over the fees in March. According to Rolling Stone, Minaj had not responded to that suit at the time of the renewed request. A hearing on the $295,605 request is set for 16 November.
The same firm previously represented Minaj in a copyright case. That lawsuit alleged her song "I Lied" copied the instrumentation and beat of "onmysleeve," by Julius Johnson. Copyright claims say a work was used without permission. The case ended with a private settlement and was dismissed.
On Tuesday, 3 November, Election Day in the United States, Minaj appeared outside a polling station in Derry, New Hampshire. She also posed for a photo in front of a campaign sign for Anthony DiLorenzo, a Republican businessman endorsed by Donald Trump. Rolling Stone reported that DiLorenzo lost his congressional bid to Democrat Stefany Shaheen.
The week before the election, Minaj appeared with Trump at a rally in Michigan. She led the crowd in a chant of "We love Trump." She travelled to the event with him aboard Air Force One, the presidential plane.
Her lawyers' claim and her political activity are running side by side. Rolling Stone sought comment from Minaj's representatives on the default judgment request and did not receive an immediate response.
Earlier this year, in January, Minaj paid a $500,000 default judgment. It was awarded to a security guard who accused her husband, Kenneth Petty, of assaulting him backstage at a 2019 concert in Germany. Paying that award prevented a court-ordered sale of her $20 million mansion in Los Angeles, according to the same report.
For now, the next date on the fee case is the 16 November hearing, when the court will take up the firm's request.
