Pras Michél is suing Ms. Lauryn Hill over the Fugees‘ cut-short and canceled tours over the last two years, accusing her of fraud and breach of contract. The Fugees founding member filed the lawsuit Tuesday, per Variety and Billboard, which alleges that Hill mismanaged the reunion tour, with his attorneys calling it a “veiled and devious attempt to make a big score for herself.”
In the lawsuit, Michél claims that he made little money from the group’s scheduled 2023 arena tour since Hill controlled the tour budget that included “unnecessary, and, most likely fictitious, expenses, that seemed to be designed to lose money.” The suit claims that Hill was secretly taking 40 percent of tour guarantees and net profits while splitting the rest of the 60 percent with Jean and Michél. The tour ended up being canceled with Hill blaming “serious vocal strain.”
The lawsuit also claims that Hill rejected a $5 million offer to play Coachella since they would be billed below No Doubt with Michél claiming he was “never told” about the offer and only learned about it “when it was too late.”
“Hill’s arrogance was again demonstrated… the reason was that her ego was bruised since the group No Doubt would be receiving top billing over The Fugees the night of their show,” reads the lawsuit, which claims Hill asked Pras if she could perform Fugees songs with her son YG Marley at the fest.
The lawsuit mentioned that Hill pitched a tour with Fugees following her alleged unsuccessful solo tour with Michél’s attorneys claiming she “realized that the only chance for her to perform at arena-size venues and feed her insatiable ego” was to reconnect with Michél and Wyclef Jean, with whom she formed Fugees in the late Eighties.
The lawsuit claims that Hill took advantage of the fact that Michél was facing large legal fees over a battle with the Department of Justice after being named a co-defendant with Jho Low who allegedly stole $4.5 billion from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, when she asked him to join the tour. (Michél was convicted in 2023 for acting as an agent of China, although he was never accused of participating in the theft.)
As for the group’s canceled 2024 tour, the lawsuit claims Live Nation had pulled the plug on the tour due to low ticket sales, although Hill blamed the media and its “clickbait headlines” about the band being late for shows for the band’s decision to cancel. In the lawsuit, Michél accuses Hill of “tarnishing” the Fugees brand for “showing up late for shows, sometimes by as many as two to three hours.”
“Because of the gross mismanagement by Hill and [her company], who had taken far too long to close the deal with Live Nation, the 2024 U.S. tour tickets sales were dismal,” reads the lawsuit. “There was little or no marketing for the tour, and not enough time between the announcement and the first concert date to do sufficient advance sales to justify the tour.”
A rep for Lauryn Hill did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
Speaking to Vulture after the Fugees abruptly canceled the tour due to admitted low ticket sales, Michél said, “Everyone’s frustration has been building up. This is not something that just happened overnight. My frustration was for the fans. They are paying their hard-earned money to see you.”
