Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Widow Sues Over ‘At Least’ $1M In Unpaid Wu-Tang Clan Royalties
Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s widow Icelene Jones alleges the group has only made one payment of $130,000 in the past decade.
After not receiving more payments Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s widow filed a seven-figure breach of agreement lawsuit in New York on Tuesday, charging the Wu-Tang Clan’s production company of “willfully” rejecting to pay ODB’s estate its fair percentage of record royalties and publishing earnings over the last decade.
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In her 10-page filing collected by Rolling Stone, Icelene Jones, manager of her late husband’s estate, is urging damages of at least $1 million, plus interest.
The complaint illustrates ODB — real name Russell Tyrone Jones — as “a world-renowned rapper, producer, and songwriter at the time of his untimely death in 2004 at the age of 35.” It says ODB was listed as the co-founded of the Wu-Tang Clan in Staten Island, N.Y., in 1992 with fellow members including Dennis “Ghost Face Killer” Coles, Corey “Raekwon” Woods, and Gary “GZA” Grice.
According to the lawsuit, ODB also consented to Wu-Tang Productions permission to influence his co-publishing rights and “name, portraits, pictures, likeness, and biographical material” for product sales and videos in trade for a 50 percent slice of revenue on his copyrights and image.
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“Despite its repeated efforts and requests, the estate has been unable to obtain payments and accountings from defendant under the Recording Agreement for the sale of Wu-Tang Clan Recordings and ODB recordings since at least 2011,” the new filing in Manhattan Supreme Court alleges.
The suit alleges Diggs sent Icelene Jones a check for $130,000 on July 6, 2021, but did so without any “detailed accounting.”