Atlanta rapper Jeezy blew off concert to party, lawsuit claims

ATLANTA — A Houston music promoter said in a lawsuit that he agreed to pay Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy $1,000 a minute for an hourlong concert in Texas last December, but the musician skipped the concert for a party and kept his $30,000 deposit.

Now Jay Jenkins, the 39-year-old rapper who goes by Jeezy or Young Jeezy, faces a civil lawsuit filed Feb. 8 in the U.S. District Court in Houston that accuses him of fraud and breach of contract.

The promoter, Darryl Austin, said in the lawsuit that Jenkins’ brush-off damaged his reputation and cost him more than $100,000 in expenses and lost revenue. Austin said he had sold $154,000 worth of concert tickets and paid for advertising and booking Houston’s Arena Theatre for the Dec. 9 concert.

“Fans think it is (my) fault,” Austin said in his lawsuit. “The venue has lost confidence in plaintiff Darryl Austin’s ability to follow through when he books events at their facility and will require more up-front money for him to reserve events.”

So far, he said, the Arena Theatre hasn’t returned the deposit he paid to reserve the space.

The lawsuit also names as defendants Sammy Mumphery and YJ Productions and Concerts, Jenkins’ Atlanta agent and promoter, who arranged the contract for the concert performance.

Austin said he had worked with the same parties to set up earlier concerts by Jenkins in Houston.

Jenkins and Mumphery couldn’t be reached for comment.

This is not the first time that Jenkins has faced legal troubles, according to Wikipedia and news accounts.

In 2005, he was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida, for illegal possession of a concealed firearm, but the charges were later dropped.

After he destroyed his Lamborghini in 2007 when he crashed into a taxi on Peachtree Street, he told The Atlanta Journal Constitution that the accident gave him “a new appreciation for life.” He was charged several months later with DUI.

Jenkins was arrested in 2014 for battery after a fight with his son.

He was arrested again several months later in California, a few days after a deadly shooting backstage at a concert, when police raided his tour bus and found an AK-47 assault rifle.

The charges were dropped after it was determined that the rifle belonged to Jenkins’ security chief, who had been hospitalized earlier after he was shot at another event.

Jenkins has also faced legal disputes with other artists over music copyright issues.

What would cause a well-known rap artist who has sold millions of records to blow off a concert?

He didn’t like the venue, even though he had played there “on at least six other occasions,” according to Austin’s lawsuit.

Cox Media Group