Jailed rapper Earl "DMX" Simmons has reportedly filed a $1 million lawsuit against Rich Kid Entertainment over unpaid royalties.
According to the lawsuit, the entertainment company never paid frDMX.
The troubled Westchester rapper filed suit Monday against Rich Kid Entertainment, charging that the entertainment company pocketed 100% of the funds from a contract signed a decade ago that was only supposed to provide a 10% cut. "DMX has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and has had No. 1 singles and albums on the Billboard charts, which in turn have generated a great amount of revenue for Defendants, but has left [DMX] with nothing," the suit says. The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, says DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, didn't even become aware of the "fraudulent acts" until last year - because he had bigger problems. "From 2000 through 2008, Simmons was in and out of jail and changed representatives numerous times," the suit says.
Additional reports suggest the company allowed X's music to be re-produced without permission.
The platinum-selling but troubled hip-hop artist -- who's currently in an Arizona jail -- said in a lawsuit filed Monday that Rich Kid Entertainment 1 and related companies paid him nothing while collecting royalties on some of his most popular work. The company also made deals letting record labels reproduce his work without telling him, the lawsuit claims. No telephone number could be found for Englewood, N.J.-based Rich Kid. Its president didn't immediately respond to a fax sent to a possible number for him.
Last month, X was sentenced to six months in jail after violating the terms of his probation.
DMX was just sentenced to six months in jail for violating his probation -- but rehab could save him from doing hard time. DMX admitted to five separate probation violations -- the result of using illegal drugs. During the hearing, a rep from the Pasadena Recovery Center gave the judge a letter from Dr. Drew Pinsky, asking permission to treat X at his facility ... in lieu of jail. The judge seemed open to sending X to the PRC.
His estranged wife, Tashera Simmons, is currently working on a book discussing their relationship.
"It's not a tell-all," Simmons promised in an interview. "I want to clear that up. It's a memoir, it's a story about our life, my life and our life together. My side of the story because I feel in his book, he didn't really get into detail to better understand it...I think reading my book, it explains everything. I'm talking about everything, from when we first met at 11 and we got together from 18 and I'm starting from there until then on...It's a positive tell-all. I'm gonna keep it 100 percent real, I'm more classy than [to say negative facts] -- if you read from the beginning up until the point it gets crazy, you'll kinda understand the whole story...There's so many rumors out there. I haven't filed [for divorce] yet but we are separated. We are separated. It's 20 years [we've been together.]"
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