Icelene Jones, the widow of Ol’ Dirty Bastard and the only receiver of his estate, is suing Wu-Tang Productions for years of unpaid royalties at the Supreme Court of New York.
Jones argues that a recording contract signed in 1992 gives the late rapper’s estate to half of the net earnings from publishing and recording royalties, as well as merchandise sales and videos. She is requesting at least $1 million in damages, as well as interest and attorneys’ expenses.
Jones claims Wu-Tang Productions failed to pay royalties to the late artist’s estate from 2011 till July 2021, when it received a $130,000 cheque. RZA, a Wu-Tang member and also ODB’s cousin, owns Wu-Tang Productions.
According to Jones, the estate also got payments from Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. in 2019 and 2020, but the total amounts fall well short of what is owed.
Over the previous decade, ODB’s estate has frequently requested accountings and payments from Wu-Tang Productions, but no thorough accounting statements have been produced, according to the lawsuit.
ODB was a Wu-Tang Clan founding member who died of an overdose of a drug at the age of 35 in 2004.
