If Busta Rhymes assaults someone, who else is to blame? His team of nine security guards? The record labels that promote his records?
According to Mark Kressner, the attorney representing 20-year-old Roberto LeBron, the man Rhymes allegedly attacked last August for reportedly spitting on his car (see "Lawyer Claims Busta Rhymes Arrest Is 'Payback,' "), the fault falls with them all. A lawsuit filed August 6 in New York's State Supreme Court outlined the reasons why.
The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from Rhymes (real name: Trevor Smith), all nine of his bodyguards, and the record labels Interscope Geffen A&M, Universal Music Group Recordings and Aftermath Entertainment. It posits that Rhymes' actions against his client were directly triggered by the rapper's persona, which the papers claim was "designed for publicity, marketing and profit purposes to be rogue, rude, aggressive, misbehaving, challenging, confrontational, disrespectful and, at times, criminal." The suit later claims the record labels "utilized the unlawful and illegal behavior and promoted the image created as part of its marketing campaign" for all things Busta: records, concerts and merchandise.
Rhymes was arrested last year on a third-degree assault charge for allegedly attacking LeBron after the rapper's appearance at the AmsterJam Music Festival on Randall's Island on August 12, 2006. According to police reports, Rhymes repeatedly kicked LeBron "about the head and body," in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, leaving him with multiple injuries, including abrasions and lacerations to his lips and wrists; LeBron also sustained a concussion from the incident.
"Trevor Smith would never hit anybody — but big shot Busta Rhymes puts on his Batman costume and he hits people," said Kressner, who claimed LeBron spit into the street and not on Rhymes' vehicle. "You have an entire industry that wants to sell violence to 10-year-old kids, and they're very happy to encourage and promote it."
According to the lawsuit, the Busta persona was "established and maintained using the economic, marketing and publicity resources" of Rhymes' various label homes, which have all benefited financially from the rapper's reputation and encouraged his "callous disregard for life, safety, freedom and liberty on the general public, for their monetary profit and to the detriment of the public in general." Additionally, the lawsuit claims Rhymes "had a history of torturous, unlawful, wrongful, violent and/or antisocial behavior," and that the record labels were well aware of it but did little to prevent similar future behavior.
Rhymes' security guards, the suit further alleges, were hired by the rapper's record labels "to protect, serve, foster and promote the public persona of 'Busta Rhymes,' in order to enhance the monetary profits of all defendants." The guards, according to the suit, were also involved in the attack, and "were attempting to advance the business interests of each of their co-defendants at the time of the assault."
A spokesperson for Interscope records could not be reached for comment at press time, and calls made to Rhymes' attorney, Scott Leemon, were not returned.
