A judge ruled the dispute can proceed in court, not settled through arbitration.
Megan Thee Stallion scored another legal victory in her fight with her record label on Monday.
A Texas judge denied a request by 1501 Entertainment and its CEO Carl Crawford to compel the “Savage” rapper’s case to arbitration. Crawford filed paperwork on March 11 asking the court to compel the artist — real name Megan Pete — to have her case decided by a single arbitrator. Crawford’s motion said that Pete’s contract with him specified that any disputes were to be handled in arbitration.
Yet, presiding Texas Harris County Judge Robert Schaeffer sided with Pete and Crawford’s denied motion to compel arbitration. In addition, Schaeffer also denied Crawford’s request to stay that case.
Pete’s attorney Richard Busch tells Billboard, “We are obviously very happy with the court’s decision and look forward to litigating this case.”
The hip-hop star has been locked in a legal battle with her label and Crawford since early March when she took the extraordinary step of seeking a temporary restraining order against them to prevent them from interfering with the March 6 release of her debut album, Suga.
Crawford argued at the time that Pete was crafting “a smoke-screen narrative of intimidation and fear with baseless and irrelevant social media posts” and that she has “continuously and flagrantly disregarded every contractual obligation she owes to 1501 per the terms of the Artist Agreement.” The court ultimately sided Megan granting her restraining order request and permitting the release — still via 1501 and distributed by 300 Entertainment, despite the dispute.
Suga debuted at No. 7 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 10 on the Billboard 200. Her hit song “Savage” has created substantial buzz propelled by the #SavageChallenge social media dance sensation. Megan Thee Stallion is managed by Roc Nation.
1501 Entertainment did not respond to a request for comment at time of publishing.