Former NFL bad boy Antonio Brown is being accused of trying to defraud a Florida-based music producer of more than $500,000 in a string of incidents, including reportedly using rapper Lil Wayne’s name as a means of pocketing $100,000.
Brown is accused of being in breach of contract and defaming music record label Secure The Bag Entertainment (STB), with whom he signed an ‘exclusive artist agreement’ in a lawsuit filed in Sarasota County Circuit on Wednesday. STB are seeking damages for the aforementioned reasons.
STB is founded and owned by Ryan Kane, who filed a separate, individual lawsuit against Brown two days prior, having allegedly been sold a fake $168,000 Richard Mille watch by the ex-NFL star.
In the most recent suit, Brown is accused of a litany of unscrupulous acts, including trying to ‘defraud’ STB of $100,000 in a collaboration between the record label and ‘one of the world’s most famous rap artists’ for a feature with Brown on his song Cracked — which Brown teased at Rolling Loud.
According to the New York Post, Kane revealed the artist in question to be Lil Wayne. Per the suit, Brown had told Kane the rapper would accept $250,000 for a feature and video on the song, which needed to be paid via Brown’s own label; CAB Records.
Antonio Brown (left) is being sued for $500,000 by music promoter Ryan Kane (right)
Kane named Lil Wayne as the artist at the center of Brown’s alleged ‘defraud’ attempt
Feeling ‘pressured’ Kane allegedly obliged, writing the check before putting a stop on it, to which Brown threatened ‘the check better be good.’ According to the lawsuit, Kane then contacted the ‘featured artist’s’ record label, only to be told he had agreed to a $150,000 deal, not the $250,000 Brown allegedly insisted on.
Upon signing for STB, Brown was said to have been paid $150,000 and performed at Rolling Loud in Los Angeles days later. Brown is alleged to have returned from California with a $178,000 expenses invoice, in which ‘the vast majority [was] grossly overstated or completely fabricated.’
Brown also allegedly sent a series of derogatory statements about, and to, members of STB. Speaking to a promoter in Chicago regarding a dispute with his label, Brown instructed him to ‘suck my d*** fa***t tell them to pay there [sic] bills cheap a** white boys.’
The ex-NFL star has attempted to forge a music career since being cut by Tampa in January
Brown won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2020 season vs. the Chiefs
Brown lives a colorful life but has suffered something of a fall from grace since his NFL career
Speaking to an unspecified person at STB, per the lawsuit, Brown said ‘as far as I understand [sic] u don’t rep me ain’t nothing stb so don’t use my name or post my picture keep my d*** out y’all mouth eat another one.’
Despite Brown’s wishes, posts still remain of him and founder, Kane, on STB’s Instagram page. The label’s lawsuit shortly follows Kane’s individual case against the former Buccaneers wide receiver for allegedly selling a fake watch.
It is claimed Brown sold him the watch ‘on or about July 27, 2022’ while knowing the watch was inauthentic. According to TMZ, the watch was worth a mere ‘couple hundred bucks.’ Per the suit, Kane wired $160,000 to Brown’s company, Boomin Productions, LLC following the agreement.
Kane (left) and Brown were once on good terms prior to a fallout regarding their agreement
Following a likely end to his football career, Brown has begun to focus on becoming a rap star
Less than two months later, Kane is said to have taken the watch for appraisal in Miami, only to learn it was a fake and that Brown had purchased it from Dubai, alongside three other Richard Mille fakes for less than $500 a piece from a dealer .
Brown allegedly told Kane the watch was an RM 011 model worth ‘in excess of $400,000.’ The watch Kane thought he had purchased was released in 2007 in conjunction with Formula 1 driver, Felipe Massa.
The ex-Steeler, Raider and Patriot won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2020 and is currently an NFL free agent after being cut by Tampa in January.
It is claimed Brown (C) sold Kane (L) a Richard Mille watch ‘on or about July 27, 2022’ while aware the watch was inauthentic before Kane allegedly wired $160,000 to his company
.