[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
The drama between Fat Joe and his former hype-man is getting real! Too real…
It all began back in June 2023, when Joe’s former employee Terrance Dixon — professionally known as T.A. — started posting some very alarming claims about the rapper. On Instagram, T.A. went as far as saying he knew “the story” about some previous sexual assault complaints brought on to Joe back in 2010. He even alleged the musician was messing “with under age girls”, saying in a post at the time:
“@FATJOE YOU ASK ME DO I TAKE ANY ACCOUNTABILITY YES I DO FOR WATCHING YOU MESS WITH UNDER AGE GIRLS BUT I WAS MINDING MY BUSINESS AND PLAYING MY POSITION AT THE TIME I WAS YOUNG MYSELF”
The post is STILL up, too! You can see it (below):
Keep in mind, this came after Joe and T.A. parted ways in 2019, supposedly amicably and on good terms… but we guess that changed somewhere along the way.
Related: Actor Accuses Tyler Perry Of Sexual Assault In Bombshell $260M Lawsuit!
But this was all just online squabbling at first. Then lawyers got involved. After all these bombshells from his former employee, Joe — whose real name is Joseph Cartagena — couldn’t take it. He filed a defamation lawsuit against T.A. in April, stating:
“In an obvious money grab, all these years later, Dixon claims that he should have been paid more. He claims (falsely) that Cartagena recently blocked him from getting outside funding for a record label, which was the ‘last straw.'”
The rapper also vehemently denied the allegations:
“Dixon knew that these statements were false: Cartagena never sexually assaulted anyone.”
But now? His former hype-man is not playing around! He SLAMMED Joe with a $20 million lawsuit, not only alleging all of his claims were true — but that he himself was also a victim.
In legal docs obtained by People, T.A. is saying Joe “engaged in coercive labor exploitation, financial fraud, sexual manipulation, violent intimidation and psychological coercion.” Whoa!
He also doubled down on his statements that the rapper was messing around with underage girls. A specific complaint stated he paid for a 16-year-old girl’s clothes and cell phone bill in exchange for “oral sex and other sexual acts”. Meanwhile, another allegation stated he flew a 15-year-old to New York and Miami, and even contemplated leaving his wife for a different teen.
If all that wasn’t enough, he’s also being accused of paying for a 15-year-old girl’s BBL! WTF!
That’s not all, though. T.A. himself claims he was forced to perform over FOUR THOUSAND sexual acts “under duress” over the course of 16 years “to maintain his standing within the Enterprise”. He also said he was “consistently underpaid, denied songwriting credits, and deliberately concealed from royalties and backend compensation” throughout his time managing Joe’s tours and entourage.
T.A.’s lawyer even went as far as comparing the allegations against the Lean Back rapper to Diddy. The magistrate called Joe “Sean Combs minus the Tusi”. WOW!
Fat Joe is still denying all the claims, though. His lawyer Joe Tacopina said in a statement that T.A.’s allegations are “a blatant act of retaliation”:
“Law enforcement is aware of the extortionate demand at the heart of this scheme. The allegations against Mr. Cartagena are complete fabrications — lies intended to damage his reputation and force a settlement through public pressure. Mr. Cartagena will not be intimidated. We have taken legal action to expose this fraudulent campaign and hold everyone involved accountable.”
The attorney is saying this is all just because Joe filed his suit, calling the countersuit “a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the civil suit we filed first, which exposed their coordinated scheme to extort Mr. Cartagena through lies, threats and manufactured allegations.”
A LOT to take in here… Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments (below).
[Image via Fat Joe/YouTube/MEGA/WENN/Avalon]
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