Two models who posed for Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer swimwear brand are suing Roc Nation for putting the photos on billboards without their permission.
New York-based models Janelle Delacruz and Tonoia Wade filed separate but nearly identical lawsuits on Tuesday (Dec. 16) against Roc Nation, the Jay-Z-founded music juggernaut that manages Megan. Delacruz and Wade allege Roc hired them for a photoshoot in April promoting the rapper’s swimwear line, which she launched in May.
Delacruz and Wade were allegedly paid $5,000 and $8,700, respectively, for the photoshoots, plus fees to their modeling agencies. They say these contracts only permitted the models’ images to be used in social media advertisements for the Hot Girl Summer swimwear.
According to the lawsuits, however, these photos have since cropped up on billboards in Los Angeles and three other U.S. cities.
“Roc Nation had a limited license to use plaintiff’s likeness from the April 30, 2025, photoshoot,” reads identical language in both lawsuits. “Defendant knew that it did not have plaintiff’s consent and did not make any attempt to notify plaintiff that plaintiff’s likeness would be used without plaintiff’s consent.”
Delacruz and Wade say Roc Nation has been “unjustly enriched” by using their images beyond what was agreed to in the modeling contracts. They now want the company to pay up, and they’re seeking an unspecified amount of financial damages for breach of contract, misappropriation of likeness and false advertising.
Megan herself is not named as a defendant in the lawsuits or accused of any wrongdoing.
A lawyer for the models, Bassil Hamideh, told Billboard on Tuesday that he and his team “look forward to vindicating our clients’ rights and trying these cases.”
“We take models’ rights very seriously,” added Hamideh. “We consider Roc Nation’s unlawful conduct against our clients to be egregious.”
A Roc Nation rep did not immediately return a request for comment.
