Earlier this week, news broke that Cardi B’s former manager, Kleanord “Shaft” Raphael, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against her. Per the lawsuit, Shaft is claiming that he discovered her and was soon “frozen out of her career” just as she was experiencing success.
As reported by Page Six, Cardi and her legal team have officially responded to the suit, issuing a statement that notes “Shaft’s claim raises a huge question.”
Per a statement issued by Paul LiCalsi, a partner at Robins Kaplan LLP, Cardi’s camp claims that Shaft didn’t fulfill his “fiduciary duties as her manager.”
“After a full investigation of the facts, we will be responding to these allegations in detail in court,” the statement reads. “But even on its face, Shaft’s claim raises a huge question. For a hefty commission, a manager promises to carefully counsel and guide an artist in her or his career. In exchange, the law imposes a high fiduciary duty on the manager to always act in the artist’s best interest, not engage in conflicts of interest, not overreach, and not self-deal.”
LiCalsi goes on to explain that Shaft signed on as suggests that Shaft signed on as management for a 20 percent commission but then signed her up through a different company in a deal that takes 50 percent of her music royalties from Atlantic Records, 50 percent of her music copyrights, and 25 percent of her other earnings.”
As such the allegation in response raises the question of “How does that comport with his fiduciary duty as her manager?”
TMZ also reported that Cardi B claimed Shaft was pocketing her money, doing so by way of telling her she was being paid less than she actually was.
More on this story as it develops.