Former NWA Manager Files For Defamation Against 'Straight Outta Compton'

31 October 2015 | 11:56 am | Staff Writer

He's filing for misappropriating of likeness, copyright infringement and more too

Former manager of the seminal '90s rap group NWA, Jerry Heller, has reportedly filed a defamation lawsuit against the recent wildly successful film, Straight Outta Compton.

As reported by Billboard, Heller alleges that the film did not seek his consent, failed to give him compensation and tarnishes his reputation by falsely claiming he was responsible for the break-up of the group.

He also alleges he did not withhold $75,000 from Ice Cube, wasn't fired by Eazy-E and wasn't out having lobster brunches while the contracts were being finalised.

The $110 million defamation lawsuit names NBCUniversal, Legendary Pictures, the artists who were the subjects of the film (i.e. Dr Dre, Ice Cube) and the director of the film F. Gary Gray, among others, as defendants.

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Heller also alleges he entered into an oral contract to collaborate on a book with various parties, consisting of more than four screenplays, two of which were titled Straight Outta Compton. He claims that the film was based on those screenplays. 

Among the defamation claims, Heller also makes complaints for misappropriation of likeness, breach of contract, breach of oral contract and copyright infringement.

You can read the full complaint here.