Swizz Beatz will be back in court soon after recently being hit with a lawsuit to the tune of $16 million after claims of being involved in fraud involving luxury cars. According to the New York Post, Swizz, born Kasseem Dean, was hit with the lawsuit in Nassau Supreme Court with claims that he “resold or fraudulently used” luxury vehicles.
It was last year that he was initially hit with a first lawsuit from Long Island’s Metro Gem Leasing with the plaintiff’s lawyers claiming that Dean and his wife Alicia Keys’ company, AK Worldwide defaulted on car leases and continued to ride the vehicles and refused to return them. He was initially being sued for $42 million. The suit was eventually thrown out in Swizz’s favor in June of this year after a judge deemed that Metro Gem could not provide any facts to support their claims against Swizz and his partner Macky Dancy. However, now claims have once more arisen saying that Swizz resold leased vehicles that included the likes of a $155,000 Range Rover and a $600,000 Ferrari F12.
According to Swizz Beatz’s lawyer Matthew West, the new claims are “nothing more than a desperate attempt to shake down a public figure,” while AK Worldwide lawyer John Rosenberg doubled down on the statement, brushing off the lawsuit as a “frivolous attempt to resurrect baseless claims.”
On the musical side of things, fans are still patiently waiting on that battle Swizz may have planned against fellow super producer Timbaland, and that previously-previewed collaboration with Lil Wayne set to appear on Swizz’s forthcoming I’m With The Smoke project. Announcing the project’s impending arrival during a sit down with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Radio, he indicated that the album, in the works for several years, houses other "unexpected collaborations."
Kung Fu Kenny himself previously noted his interest in working with the famed producer this summer. It may be a long shot, but here’s to wishful thinking that this pairing could be one of the unexpected collaborations. In the meantime, let’s hope Swizz’s legal battles won’t keep him away from the studio for too long.