Fat Joe claps back against 'disgusting lies' amid allegations of coercion, sex with minors
Rapper Fat Joe took a stand on social media against allegations of coercion, intimidation and sex with minors that emerged last week in a lawsuit filed by his former hype man.
The Bronx native (birth name Joseph Cartagena) broke his silence Wednesday in a statement on Instagram informing followers that he has "been tested the last few months" with recent deaths in his family — and now legal woes. The 54-year-old musician said he is "fighting against these disgusting lies" about his alleged behavior and promised, "I will not break and I will NEVER back down."
Terrance "T.A." Dixon filed a federal lawsuit against his former employer last week, accusing Fat Joe of underpayment, swindling him out of pay for his contribution to album tracks, ditching him in foreign countries without money or transportation home and running a criminal organization built on intimidation and violence. The lawsuit also alleges that Fat Joe forced the hype man into approximately 4,000 sex acts with women in front of him and his team and accuses the rapper of having sexual relationships with girls who were 15 and 16.
Read more: Fat Joe accused of coercion, intimidation, sex with minors in ex-hype man's lawsuit
Fat Joe in his statement railed against people in his close circles who "take my love and kindness for weakness" and claimed that "people steal from me, grow jealous of me, lie on me." He said ultimately he and his family face the fallout of betrayal.
The "All the Way Up" rapper did not name Dixon or explicitly relay the allegations against him but instead dwelled on how haters "decide to go after one of the things you value the most — your reputation," including by making up "the most insane stories" as retaliation and taking their grievances to court. He said he won't be shaken down.
"I've never let anyone on the streets extort me, so how would I ever let a crooked attorney and coward ex-hype man extort me?? I'm from the Bronx!" he said.
Fat Joe spoke out after his attorney Joe Tacopina dismissed Dixon's allegations as 'complete fabrications." In April, the rapper sued Dixon for alleged slander after the former hype man accused him on social media of flying a 16-year-old across state lines for sex — hence the suggestion of retaliation.
Read more: Smokey Robinson's accusers blast his $500-million countersuit as 'attempt to silence and intimidate'
Dixon's attorney Tyrone Blackburn was also subject to Fat Joe's ire as the rapper promised "we will finish you in court." New York police arrested Blackburn on Wednesday; he was accused of hitting a process server with his car in New York City and booked on suspicion of assault, NBC News reported. Blackburn's lawyer told XXL the arrest seemed to be "somewhat of a setup."
Fat Joe concluded his Instagram statement by asserting that the era of attorneys leveraging their "law license as a badge to extort people and destroy families with no evidence is over!!
"I'm not the one!! You've messed with the wrong one this time!!"
Times assistant editor Christie D'Zurilla contributed to this report.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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