Pras has quit Fugees for good. The 52-year-old rapper – whose real name is Prakazrel Samuel Michel – recently sued bandmate Lauryn Hill, 49, for fraud and breach of contract over their shortened 2023 tour and the cancellation of this year’s ‘Miseducation Anniversary’ concert series, and he has now insisted he is “done” with the group.
The ‘Ready or Not’ hitmakers – also including Wyclef Jean – will tour without Pras in Europe as he is currently banned from travelling internationally as he awaits sentencing after he was convicted on 10 counts in a corruption scandal involving the $4.5 billion looting of Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB.
He could face more than 20 years in prison.
Speaking to Variety in an interview published this week, he said of Fugees: “I’m done with that.
“They’re going to Europe [to tour]. I can’t go, so. It’s what it is.
“You can’t give people that kind of energy.
“So you could be frustrated, you could be disappointed, but I really believe in my path and in my journey, and I believe what’s mine, no one’s going to be able to take it away from me. So it’s better that you have a small group of people who really believe in you and believe in what you’re doing than to have 100 people around you, and the minute something happens — boom. People just disappear.”
In his lawsuit, Pras accused Lauryn of having “grossly mismanaged the set-up, marketing and budgeting of” the 2023 tour, claiming it “was actually a veiled and devious attempt to make a big score for herself.”
He also alleged a “breach of fiduciary duty and refusal to permit an audit” of the tour from Lauryn and alleged she had controlled a budget that was “so bloated with unnecessary and, most likely fictitious, expenses, that it seemed designed to lose money” before “abruptly” cancelling the second half of the tour.
In addition, Pras claimed he missed out on another pay day when Lauryn failed to tell the rest of the group they had been offered $5 million to play Coachella, which he alleged she turned down as her “ego was bruised” because No Doubt would receive top billing.
In response to the “desperate and unfortunate” lawsuit, Lauryn’s lawyer, Howard King, claimed it was “packed with lies and intentionally disparaging remarks.”
