The ongoing legal dispute between Fat Joe and his ex-hype man continues to escalate.
Based on court documents obtained by Complex, Terrance “T.A.” Dixon has launched a $20 million legal action against the Bronx rapper, alleging “coercive labor exploitation, financial fraud, sexual manipulation, violent intimidation, and psychological coercion.”
The lawsuit, submitted Thursday to U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, indicates Dixon worked under Fat Joe, whose real name is Joseph Antonio Cartagena, for 16 years.
Dixon maintains his responsibilities extended well beyond typical hype man duties, as he also functioned as a writer and background vocalist on songs including “Congratulations,” “Ice Cream,” and “Money Over Bitches.” Dixon alleges he never received adequate payment for his creative work.
Dixon alleges Fat Joe compelled him “into humiliating situations,” including filmed sexual encounters and “threats of abandonment in foreign countries if [he] refused compliance.” The lawsuit states Dixon “was coerced into more than 4,000 sexual acts to maintain his standing.”
Yet the most serious accusations in the filing concern underage girls referred to as Minor Does. Dixon claims he observed Fat Joe engage in sexual relationships with two girls who were then 15 years old and another who was 16.
The first teenager is described as a Dominican girl residing in New York City who “would [perform] oral sex and other sexual acts” on Fat Joe “in exchange for cash, clothing, and payment of her cell phone bill.”
The legal document claims Fat Joe started having sexual relations with Minor Doe 2 when she was 15 and covered her travel expenses plus her Brazilian butt lift procedure. Dixon states this girl is “now married to a professional athlete.”
The former hype man alleges Fat Joe encountered Minor Doe 3 when she was 15 and started developing romantic feelings for her, to the extent that he “even contemplated leaving his wife.”
Furthermore, Dixon claims Fat Joe participated in money laundering and tax evasion operations. The suit alleges Fat Joe and his co-defendants deliberately increased Dixon’s tax obligations “in an effort to conceal their extensive wage theft.”
Dixon was “not only exploited financially but also subjected to a wide spectrum of sexual coercion, psychological control, forced exhibitionism, and surveillance-based humiliation,” according to the lawsuit. “These sex-based abuses were not private, incidental, or isolated. They were integral to the Enterprise’s culture of dominance and humiliation, enforced by the Defendant’s associates.”
Fat Joe’s co-defendants include Roc Nation, LLC; Peter “Pistol Pete” Torres; Richard “Rich Player” Jospitre; and Erica Juliana Moreira.
This lawsuit comes just months after Fat Joe filed his own legal action against Dixon for extortion and defamation. The rapper stated that on March 23, he received correspondence from Dixon and a lawyer seeking payment for vocal and ghostwriting work.
Weeks afterward, Dixon reportedly threatened to submit a complaint featuring sex trafficking, statutory rape, fraud, and forced labor charges, all of which Fat Joe has rejected.
This story is being updated.
