Lauyn Hill sued by Fugees co-founder Pras Michél over tour chaos

Pras Michél, co-founder of Grammy-Award winning hip-hop group The Fugees, is suing his bandmate Lauryn Hill for fraud and breach of contract.

He is claiming that the singer’s “arrogance” and “narcissistic tendencies” led to the sabotage of their cancelled comeback tour.

In the lawsuit, which was obtained by Variety, Michél alleges that Hill grossly mismanaged the setup, marketing and budgeting of their abandoned 2023 tour, calling her actions a “veiled and devious attempt to make big score for herself.” It adds that she secretly syphoned off money from the tour guarantees, accusing her of breach of fiduciary duty and refusal to permit an audit of the Fugees’ tour.

Some of the late 2023 tour dates had been postponed due to Hill’s “serious vocal strain”, followed by a full cancellation of a 2024 tour due to “gross mismanagement.”

The Fugees had also been offered $5m to play Coachella, but Hill turned it down when she realised they would not be at the top of the bill, the lawsuit claims.

“Hill’s arrogance was again demonstrated when she unilaterally rejected a $5m offer [to play Coachella],” it reads. “The reason was that her ego was bruised since the group No Doubt would be receiving top billing over The Fugees the night of their show.

“Hill never told Pras about the offer or that she had rejected it. Pras only learned about it when it was too late, after Hill, in an astonishing display of hubris, asked Pras if he would agree to perform a few Fugees songs for free as the opening act for her son, YG Marley, who was slated to perform at the same Coachella festival.”

In a statement to Variety, Hill called the lawsuit “baseless” and “full of false claims and unwarranted attacks," with her attorney Howard King adding: “It is particularly disappointing that the suit fails to reveal that Pras was grossly over advanced for the last tour to help him pay his mounting legal bills. His failure to show appreciation for the financial help Ms. Hill has afforded him in his time of need is disappointing. This action will be aggressively defended and defeated.”

The singer added the lawsuit omits an advanced payment Pras received to handle his legal troubles. “I was not in Pras’s life when he decided to make the unfortunate decision that led to his current legal troubles,” Hill said. “I did not advise that he make that decision and therefore am in no way responsible for his decision and its consequences though I have taken it upon myself to help. Despite his attacks, I am still compassionate and hope things work out for him.”

Last year, Pras was convicted of funnelling money during the Obama 2012 election campaign, as well as illegally lobbying in the US.

According to the lawsuit, Hill first proposed the idea of a Fugees reunion, as her solo tour had failed, in spring 2023 to ex-husband Jean, who then pitched it to Pras. She “realised that the only chance for her to perform at arena size venues and feed her insatiable ego would be to reunite with Michél and Jean and bill the 25th anniversary tour as a ‘Fugees tour.'”

It also claims that Hill “tarnished the Fugees brand” due to “her habit of showing up late for shows, sometimes by as many as two to three hours.” This week, the singer reportedly hit the stage at 3am for a show in Nairobi, Kenya, after she was supposed to perform at 8pm.

The Fugees are best known for their second album The Scored, which came out in 1996 and earned the band two Grammy Awards and making them the first hip-hop group to ever be nominated for Album Of The Year. Selling of 22m copies worldwide, it featured the hit singles ‘Ready or Not’ and ‘Killing Me Softly’.

Lauryn Hill and the Fugees are still scheduled to play a show in Dublin’s 3Arena this Monday, October 7.