Lauryn Hill has responded to her Fugees bandmate Pras Michel’s fraud lawsuit.
Michel sued the singer for fraud and breach of contract, among other claims, on Tuesday for cancelling some of their 2023 live dates and all of their 2024 tour. He accused her of mismanaging the 2023 tour and leaving him “empty-handed” despite the shows being sold out.
In a lengthy statement, Hill claimed his “baseless” lawsuit is “full of false claims and unwarranted attacks” and omitted the fact that she and their bandmate Wyclef Jean deferred their full advances to give Michel a $3 million (£2.3 million) tour advance to help pay for his legal issues.
“It notably omits that he was advanced overpayment for the last tour and has failed to repay substantial loans extended by myself as an act of goodwill,” she alleged. “The tour was expanded to incorporate the Fugees because I found out that Pras was in trouble and would need money to aid his legal defense.”
The 49-year-old continued, “Pras was given a $3M advance for the tour, which he said he required to pay his legal fees… An agreement was put in place to secure the repayment of the money he was advanced. Pras has not paid back the money he was advanced, and is currently in breach of this agreement.”
Hill added that it was “absolutely disheartening” to be sued by her longtime bandmate and “someone I considered a friend”.
Responding to her statement, a publicist for Michél’s attorney said to Variety, “Ms. Hill’s response is categorically false. If she was so responsible with the management of the tour, why has she not sent an accounting to Pras?”
The U.S. tour was quietly cancelled three days before it was due to start in August. The U.K. and Europe leg is due to kick off in Dublin, Ireland on Monday but its future is now in doubt.
In 2023, Michel was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., witness tampering and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government for his involvement in a scheme to help China influence U.S. politics.
