Suge, Death Row Bottom Out
Marion "Suge" Knight, once the most imposing figure in hip-hop, filed for personal and corporate bankruptcy Tuesday in a last-ditch effort to avoid losing control of his Death Row Records label.
The recording company, the linchpin of West Coast rap in the 1990s, now known simply as Tha Row, had been expected to be taken over by the court to make good on a $107 million judgment against Knight.
The bankruptcy filings, which cover both Knight and Tha Row, effectively forestall the transfer of the record company, which is the focus of a high-stakes legal battle between Knight and Lydia Harris, who claims she helped build the hip-hop empire but was never properly compensated.
"He has no choice," said his lawyer, Laurence Strick. "Mr. Knight doesn't have $107 million."
Harris filed a complaint against Knight in 2002, alleging she and her ex-husband Michael Harris had helped bankroll Death Row and were thus entitled to half of the earnings generated by the label, which once counted Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur among its roster of artists. According to court papers, Harris claimed Knight was trying to "destroy her ability to lay claim to her rightful share of the ownership and profits" of the company.
In March of last year, without even going to trial, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sohigian sided with Harris, ordering Knight to pay her $107 million. The judge cited Knight's inability to cooperate in the court inquiries as the chief reason for the ruling. (Knight filed a countersuit in February, but that did not nullify the judgment.)
Knight refused to pay up, missing four court-ordered debtor examinations, which were scheduled to assess Knight's finances and determine a payment schedule.
Lydia Harris' attorney, Rex Bearber, called out the rap mogul's truancy, saying he was simply "playing games" to avoid opening his wallet.
Last month, Sohigian gave Knight one last chance, setting a date of Apr. 1. Despite being admonished that his absence from the appointment would result in his record label being handed over to a receivership, Knight once again was a no-show.
But under federal bankruptcy laws, Knight's filing shields him, at least temporarily, from losing the label.
Per court documents, Knight says he has assets of $50,000 and debts of more than $100 million. The Death Row filing lists assets of $1.5 million and debt stands of about $120 million. Both list the $107 million judgment and more than $11.7 million in tax debt as outstanding debt. Knight notes that he is disputing the tax figures.
Knight, who got out of prison in 2003 after nearly five years behind bars for a parole violation, has been unable to return Tha Row to its glory days.
Bearber says Knight's maneuver was not unexpected.
"Bankruptcy is by its nature the final stop in these games of delay," he said.
Michael Harris' lawyer, Steven Goldberg, asked Sohigian to hold Knight in contempt of court and jail him for his failure to show at the string of debtor hearings, but the judge declined.
Knight now has 15 days to list all his assets and he must submit to questioning in court. Should the mogul fail to fully disclose all of his finances in the upcoming hearings, he could be found guilty of bankruptcy fraud.
"We're going to follow Suge Knight to whatever court he runs to," Michael Harris' lawyer, Stephen Goldberg, said. "We'll follow him to the courts of hell if necessary, but he's going to satisfy this judgment."
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