Could the Forbes magazine declaration that Jay-Z and Beyoncé are entertainment’s top-earning couple have the same disastrous effect on them that making the cover of EA Sports has on athletes?
Reports have leaked out of the fortress that is the Jay-Z camp that the rapper impresario owes Highland Capital Management in excess of $52 million in loan guarantees and has not reconciled the balance of the loan in the predetermined time frame. He was going to use the loan to build a boutique hotel in the New York borough of Manhattan before the hotel deal collapsed.
Jigga’s financial quagmire doesn’t end there unfortunately. It is also reported that Jay-Z’s own attorney sued him last year for outstanding attorney fees. The attorney later called Jay-Z a “Grammy-winning deadbeat.” Not that Jay-Z will visit a soup kitchen anytime soon. His wife has a few dollars stashed under the mattress — at least enough to hold both of them over, if indeed he is in dire financial straits.
Then again, Beyoncé is entangled in a legal mess of her own. Beyonce and her mother, Tina, are being sued by Vietnamese companies claiming they allegedly swindled them out of half-million dollars. Mother and daughter are being sued by Vier International under the RICO statute — Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act — which is normally reserved for Mafia chieftains.
Vier International alleges that Bey and Tina’s House of Dereon clothing line deliberately ordered shipments of goods from Vier International at far below the agreed upon cost, which were then converted to House of Dereon pieces and sold at much higher prices. The two even went as far as demanding “manufacturing specifications” so that the garments would not require alterations before quickly going to market in America.
Looks like Hova is having liquidity issues. Jay bragged in 2007 about his business and stock market savvy saying, “I got stockbrokers that’s movin it like white tops.” But that’s before the stock market crashed by upwards of 50 percent, severely damaging Jay’s portfolio investments. On top of that, his $150 million LiveNation deal took a hit when the economic downturn impacted his stake in music and fashion sales along with other investment deals. –terry shropshire
