Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Widow Sues Over ‘At Least’ $1M In Unpaid Wu-Tang Clan Royalties

Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s widow Icelene Jones alleges the group has only made one payment of $130,000 in the past decade.

After not receiving more payments Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s widow filed a seven-figure breach of agreement lawsuit in New York on Tuesday, charging the Wu-Tang Clan’s production company of “willfully” rejecting to pay ODB’s estate its fair percentage of record royalties and publishing earnings over the last decade. According to the lawsuit, ODB also consented to Wu-Tang Productions permission to influence his co-publishing rights and “name, portraits, pictures, likeness, and biographical material” for product sales and videos in trade for a 50 percent slice of revenue on his copyrights and image.

“Despite its repeated efforts and requests, the estate has been unable to obtain payments and accountings from defendant under the Recording Agreement for the sale of Wu-Tang Clan Recordings and ODB recordings since at least 2011,” the new filing in Manhattan Supreme Court alleges.