Simon & Schuster Inc. sued rap performers ``Foxy Brown'' and ``Lil' Kim,'' accusing both women of receiving tens of thousands of dollars in advances while failing to deliver the books they promised to write.
The publishing house, a unit of CBS Corp., said today in separate lawsuits filed in state court in New York that Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, and Lil' Kim, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, signed contracts to write books.
Simon & Schuster said it paid Brown $75,000 under a 2006 contract for an autobiography tentatively titled ``Broken Silence.'' The publisher said Lil' Kim signed a contract in 2004 and was paid $40,000 for an untitled novel.
``Both accepted the money and both books never were delivered,'' Simon & Schuster spokesman Adam Rothberg said today in a phone interview.
Rothberg said the publisher has teamed up with other rappers and hip-hop artists on books. Starting in 2007, Simon & Schuster and hip-hop artist `50 Cent' started a series of books based on his rhymes about drug dealing, street crime and expensive cars. ``That line of books was very successful and we've also published books by members of 50 Cent's G-Unit posse,'' Rothberg said.
Simon & Schuster also published the autobiography of `50 Cent,' who was born Curtis Jackson, Rothberg said.
Manhattan Shooting
Lil' Kim, a Grammy-award winning rapper, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison in 2005 for lying to a federal grand jury about a shooting outside a Manhattan radio station. Neither she nor her lawyer were immediately available for comment on the suit.
Lil' Kim was leaving the studios of ``Hot 97,'' WQHT, with members of the rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A. on Feb. 25, 2001, as a rival group, Capone-N-Noreaga, was coming into the station and shots were fired, according to an indictment. One man was wounded.
Two members of Lil' Kim's entourage, Damion Butler and Suif Jackson, pleaded guilty to firearms charges in connection with the shooting. Lil' Kim told the grand jury that Butler wasn't present at the gunfight and she denied knowing Jackson, according to the indictment.
Brown was sentenced in September 2007 to a year in jail for violating probation after being convicted of charges related to a fight with two manicurists in a New York nail salon. Laura Dilimetin, a lawyer for Brown, didn't immediately return a voice-mail message seeking comment after business hours.
CBS fell 69 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $17.37 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped 36 percent this year.
The cases are Simon & Schuster v. Inga Marchand, 110125/2008, and Simon & Schuster v. Kimberly Jones, 110124/2008, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).
The publishing house, a unit of CBS Corp., said today in separate lawsuits filed in state court in New York that Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, and Lil' Kim, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, signed contracts to write books.
Simon & Schuster said it paid Brown $75,000 under a 2006 contract for an autobiography tentatively titled ``Broken Silence.'' The publisher said Lil' Kim signed a contract in 2004 and was paid $40,000 for an untitled novel.
``Both accepted the money and both books never were delivered,'' Simon & Schuster spokesman Adam Rothberg said today in a phone interview.
Rothberg said the publisher has teamed up with other rappers and hip-hop artists on books. Starting in 2007, Simon & Schuster and hip-hop artist `50 Cent' started a series of books based on his rhymes about drug dealing, street crime and expensive cars. ``That line of books was very successful and we've also published books by members of 50 Cent's G-Unit posse,'' Rothberg said.
Simon & Schuster also published the autobiography of `50 Cent,' who was born Curtis Jackson, Rothberg said.
Manhattan Shooting
Lil' Kim, a Grammy-award winning rapper, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison in 2005 for lying to a federal grand jury about a shooting outside a Manhattan radio station. Neither she nor her lawyer were immediately available for comment on the suit.
Lil' Kim was leaving the studios of ``Hot 97,'' WQHT, with members of the rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A. on Feb. 25, 2001, as a rival group, Capone-N-Noreaga, was coming into the station and shots were fired, according to an indictment. One man was wounded.
Two members of Lil' Kim's entourage, Damion Butler and Suif Jackson, pleaded guilty to firearms charges in connection with the shooting. Lil' Kim told the grand jury that Butler wasn't present at the gunfight and she denied knowing Jackson, according to the indictment.
Brown was sentenced in September 2007 to a year in jail for violating probation after being convicted of charges related to a fight with two manicurists in a New York nail salon. Laura Dilimetin, a lawyer for Brown, didn't immediately return a voice-mail message seeking comment after business hours.
CBS fell 69 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $17.37 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped 36 percent this year.
The cases are Simon & Schuster v. Inga Marchand, 110125/2008, and Simon & Schuster v. Kimberly Jones, 110124/2008, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).