Then, on November 18, 2021, Banks hit again, suing Kwatinetz for claims together with breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary responsibility, and negligence. Within the counter-complaint, Banks accuses Kwatinetz of “blurring the strains between a fiduciary and a romantic suitor in order that he may take monetary benefit” of her when she was 23 and he was a 49-year-old CEO.
Together with the private allegations, the submitting particulars Banks’ monetary objections. In keeping with Banks’ counter-complaint, Prospect Park didn’t present its first accounting assertion underneath its cope with Banks till July 1, 2020—greater than 5 and a half years after the discharge of Broke With Costly Style—and paid out “the miniscule [sic] sum of $15,344.94.” Per the identical doc, Prospect Park reported nearly $1.5 million in album revenues and $1.3 million in prices, and Banks was entitled to 50 % of “web receipts”—that’s, income after bills and taxes. Banks and her crew contend that Prospect Park’s precise revenues from the album had been larger and the label “didn’t pay for the price of the manufacturing of the album,” which had been lengthy delayed throughout her earlier stint with Interscope Data. (The submitting doesn’t clarify why $15,000 is a lot lower than half of the distinction between $1.5 million and $1.3 million.)
Since then, the competing lawsuits have largely flown underneath the radar. Banks’ earlier lawyer didn’t give a purpose for his departure in his court docket submitting requesting to withdraw from the case. And, whereas Banks has remained a magnet for controversy, just lately parting methods with yet one more label, she has additionally returned with a well-received comeback single, “New Bottega.” In a profile earlier this yr in The Guardian, Banks addressed how individuals understand or misperceive her based mostly on what’s on-line. “They really feel like they will launch frivolous lawsuits and use this villainous, silly narrative in opposition to me,” she stated.
Banks’ lawyer, John Vafa, indicated in court docket filings that he would use his newly granted further time to collect extra proof about allegedly “huge” discrepancies mentioned in an August 4 convention name between Banks’ former lawyer, Kwatinetz’ attorneys, and auditors. In keeping with the paperwork, Prospect Park allegedly “didn’t report funds” on “inconsistent 2015 and 2020 accounting statements,” and “deducted bills not really paid for,” whereas Brooklyn Music Distribution, the place prior information present Kwatinetz is a director, was “an pointless third-party.” Vafa can be in search of a deposition of Kwatinetz. And the filings spotlight an alleged battle of curiosity, asserting {that a} former enterprise supervisor for Banks who signed off on the accounting is now a companion on the auditing agency concerned within the case.
In an October 13 submitting for Banks, Vafa alleges (emphasis his): “The Courtroom needs to be alarmed at Plaintiff and Cross-Defendants’ [i.e., Kwatinetz and his camp’s] determined makes an attempt to hide and spoil proof on this motion [i.e., the case] with determined flailing makes an attempt to confuse this Courtroom with a number of inconsistent filings … One factor is evident from the flailing oppositions: Cross-Defendants didn’t anticipate that cross-complainants’ new counsel of report would accomplish the cumbersome activity of reviewing the related case recordsdata obtained from the predecessor counsel [and locate the August 2023 phone call].”
CORRECTION: The story has been up to date to mirror that the court docket paperwork discuss with Banks’ mom as “dying,” not deceased.
