The widow of Ol’ Dirty Bastard is suing the Wu-Tang Clan over royalties owed to his estate.
According to Variety, RZA’s Wu-Tang Productions has not paid any royalties to the ODB estate from 2011 until July 2021. And when he did, he sent a check for $130,000.
The complaint references a 1992 recording agreement, under which ODB was to be paid 50% of net earnings on the publishing of his copyrighted songs. Group members were to to split 50% of net earnings from the sound recordings. The estate is also allegedly owed royalties on merchandising and videos.
“Wu-Tang Productions, Inc., owned by Wu-Tang member Robert Diggs (RZA) has willfully refused to compensate or provide accounting records to the Estate of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, despite being contractually obligated,” a statement obtained by Variety reads.
“The Estate will randomly receive partial checks such as the one sent for $130,000 in July of 2021 from Wu-Tang Productions but without financial records, we have no indication of the exact amount the Estate is still owed. It is crucial to understand that ODB’s widow and Administrator of the Estate Icelene Jones has been requesting these financial records for years and has a legal obligation to do so. This is not an attack on Wu-Tang Productions, Inc., but a last legal resort we have had to pursue after being denied and ignored on this matter for over ten years.”
