The Fugees singer Pras Michel has sued frontwoman Lauryn Hill (Picture: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
Lauryn Hill has hit out at her Fugees bandmate Pras Michel’s lawsuit against her, calling it ‘desperate and unfortunate’.
The legal action comes after the 90s hitmaker shortened the Fugees 2023 tour and cancelled the Miseducation Anniversary US concerts this year, days before they were due on stage.
The Fugees previously confirmed their UK dates would go ahead and are due to play Cardiff on October 9, before heading to Manchester and London on October 12 and 14, respectively.
Michel, 51, has sued the 49-year-old frontwoman for fraud and breach of contract, accusing her of ‘grossly mismanaging the set-up, marketing and budgeting’ for 2023’s tour.
He added, in documents obtained by Variety, that the tour ‘was actually a veiled and devious attempt to make a big score for herself’.
Hill has blasted the lawsuit as ‘disheartening’ in a statement, claiming she ‘absorbed’ most of the expenses.
The trio, along with Wyclef Jean, had been due to tour this year (Picture: Paul Natkin/WireImage)
The Ready or Not singer also alleged she and bandmate Wyclef Jean, 54, had waived their advance to financially benefit Michel.
The Miseducation Anniversary Tour 2024 was due to kick off in Tampa, Florida on August 9 before making its way across the US and over to Europe later this year.
Ticketholders were informed, after the 2023 tour was shortened, that the gigs would no longer go ahead with Hill citing ‘poor sales’ as the reason.
As part of the fraud claims, Michel alleged a ‘breach of fiduciary duty and refusal to permit an audit’ and stated Hill had overblown the budget.
Variety reports the lawsuit states the tour was ‘so bloated with unnecessary and, most likely fictitious, expenses, that it seemed designed to lose money’.
In addition to this, Michel claims Hill did not inform the group when she turned down a $5million offer to play Coachella, meaning he missed out on a payday.
Hill hit back at Michel’s claims of fraud and loss of earnings (Picture: Steve Jennings/Getty Images)
Her reasoning, according to her bandmate, was that the Killing Me Softly hitmaker’s ‘ego was bruised’ after No Doubt landed top billing.
In response, Hill’s lawyer, Howard King, claimed the lawsuit was ‘packed with lies and intentionally disparaging remarks.’
He added: ‘It is particularly disappointing that the suit fails to reveal that Pras was grossly over-advanced for the last tour to help him pay his mounting legal bills.
‘His failure to show appreciation for the financial help Ms. Hill has afforded him in his time of need is disappointing. This action will be aggressively defended and defeated.’
Michel is facing up to 20 years in prison(Picture: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Michel is currently facing up to 20 years in jail after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the US, witness tampering, and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.
Accusations include helping Malaysian businessman Jho Low and the Chinese government gain access to US Officials, including former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Hill, not …read more
Source:: Metro
