Faith Evans, the R&B singer and widow of The Notorious B.I.G., has been sued for allegedly refusing to share profits from a landmark Primary Wave catalog deal with the estate of the rap icon’s late mother.
Evans faces the claims in a Delaware court petition originally filed last Wednesday (July 2) and unsealed on Tuesday (July 8). The case was brought by Wayne Barrow, a record executive who became executor of the estate of Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, upon her death in February.
The petition says Voletta managed an LLC holding Biggie’s assets after the rapper (born Christopher Wallace) was killed in 1997, up until she negotiated the “transformative” sale of half the portfolio to Primary Wave before her death. The deal, which the Wall Street Journal reported was worth $100 million, gave Primary Wave a stake in Biggie’s catalog as well as certain name, image and likeness rights.
According to the court filing, Evans became the sole manager of Biggie LLC after Voletta’s death. This allegedly makes her responsible for giving the deceased matriarch’s trust, managed by Barrow, its cut of the profits from the catalog sale.
“Ms. Evans has distributed sale proceeds to Ty’anna, CJ, and presumably to herself,” writes Barrow, referring to Biggie’s two children. “She, however, has wrongfully withheld the Trust’s [redacted] share of the proceeds, in the amount of [redacted].”
Additionally, Barrow says Evans has refused to recognize the Voletta Wallace trust as a 50% member of the holding company and has kept Barrow “entirely in the dark about the business and affairs of the LLC.”
“Ms. Evans’s actions are particularly troubling given that, unlike Mr. Barrow, she has never previously been involved in the LLC’s management,” says the petition.
Barrow is seeking a court order forcing Evans to provide the trust with its share of the Primary Wave sale proceeds, which he says will be ultimately donated to the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation.
The petition also seeks to remove Evans from her position as manager of the LLC due to her “continued misconduct and disregard for her obligations.” Barrow is asking to be named the new company manager.
A rep for Evans did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday (July 9). Primary Wave, which is not named in the lawsuit nor accused of any wrongdoing, also did not return a request for comment.
