Jay-Z made an appearance in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed against him by Parlux Fragrances.
Per Rolling Stone, the resulting talks between Jay-Z and a lawyer for Parlux “quickly became testy” after the fragrance company turned the proceedings toward contractual details. In short, the company alleges the 4:44 artist didn’t properly promote the Jay-Z Gold scent.
A breach of contract suit was filed against Jay-Z back in 2016. Jay later countersued. On Friday, he defended his actions, arguing that he had a year to complete promo.
“I did a lot for the Gold Jay-Z launch,” he said.
Despite Jay asking about contractually having a year to complete promo, the lawyer failed to answer, prompting Jay to repeat the question.
“Actually, you need to answer my questions,” the Parlux lawyer said. From there, the lawyer played clips of a previous deposition in which Jay conceded to not being aware of some of the obligations listed in the contract. At one point, Parlux’s lawyer asked Jay if it was “fair to say” that he knew nothing of the celebrity fragrance market when he signed the initial contract for Gold. “I mean, I’m a celebrity,” Jay said in response.
Parlux has accused Jay of failing to personally appear for fragrance promo on Good Morning America, as well as for an in-store Macy’s event, despite—according to Parlux—these appearances being part of the agreement.
A separate report from the New York Daily News adds that Jay stated on multiple occasions on Friday that he is, in fact, “not a lawyer.” In fact, per that report, Jay stated that he “did not read the contract” and explained that his own legal team would have likely explained the details of the agreement to him.
The Gold by Jay-Z fragrance for men was launched in 2013. As recently as last year, the fragrance was still appearing in YouTube comparison videos and elsewhere.
Jay, meanwhile, shared two new songs this week as part of the soundtrack for Netflix’s The Harder They Fall.
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