Jay-Z (by Joella Marano / Jorge Barrios, via Wikimedia / Creative Commons)
If you want compromise, you go to mediation. But civil lawsuits are part of an adversarial system, baby! If you’re not pushing back a little, you’re doing something wrong — at least that’s what I thought before reading Frank G. Runyeon’s article about Jay-Z’s apparent battle-ready responses during his $18 million dollar lawsuit over perfume endorsement. Now if you know anything about Shawn Carter, you know that he no longer beats the block. He is the block. Understandably, I went into the article expecting baseball the likes of Ether. Instead, I got a series of minor league throws. Let’s take a look at the type of responses that justify calling Mr. Z combative:
“I’ve done a lot for the Gold Jay-Z launch,”
“I didn’t have to show up for one weekend… I had one year to complete them, correct?”
“No, I did not read the contract.”
“I’m not a lawyer. [My] lawyer read it. I signed it…All I can say is I have creative control over things I do.”
“I wanted great products and these guys didn’t understand…It was so frustrating working with them.”
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As a person who has worked in retail and in restaurants, I have serious concern over how Mr. Runyeon is defining combative. I’m all for the subtle disrespect of a well placed “Bless your heart,” but don’t Mr. New York’s responses seem rather tame? Runyeon’s article is kind of giving “he’s no angel,” if we’re being honest. The media has had a long run habit of coating black folks in hyper-aggressive language. Even if they are billionaires, it’s 2021. Can we do better? Thanks.
Combative Jay-Z Tells Jury He Didn’t Ghost On Perfume Deal [Law360]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. Before that, he wrote columns for an online magazine named The Muse Collaborative under the pen name Knehmo. He endured the great state of Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.