In his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech over the weekend, Jay-Z made a nod to the fact that he had to go to court. And as promised, he did just that on Monday.
During his ongoing trial, brought on by fragrance firm Parlux over the rapper allegedly not meeting commitments to promote the release of Jay-Z Gold perfume, Hov testified that Parlux’s attorney Anthony Viola was “playing lawyer tricks,” as Rolling Stone reports that the two agreed on very little during their back-and-forths.
Monday also saw disagreement over Jay’s 2019 deposition, where the lawyer accused the rapper of “changing your testimony,” as well as moments where the judge had to intervene to reword some of Viola’s phrasing, as Jay accused him of playing “word games.”
Jay also argued that he never gave the company permission to sell Gold Jay Z at a Superdrug, a UK-based drugstore and that he’s “always had problems with the quality of the lazy work that was coming from Parlux.”
“You’re almost cutting the legs off from the brand [by] putting it in discount stores,” Jay-Z said, according to the New York Post.
“Absolutely not,” Hov said when asked by his own legal team if he wanted the scent to be a failure. “I’m not gonna cut off my nose to spite my face.”
Parlux initially filed a breach of contract suit in 2016, alleging that Jay-Z gained $2 million in royalties from the perfume while they lost nine times that. The company later claimed Jay was supposed to be part of a series of events to promote it but “never once personally appeared.” Jay-Z responded by countersuing.
Last week in court, Jay argued that he “did a lot for the Gold Jay-Z launch” despite being busy with promo at the time.
In his latest court date, Hov’s team also compared going on tour to LeBron James prepping for the NBA finals, as part of the reason why the businessman was kept from promoting the perfume that shared his name.
