21 Savage has responded after FreakNik Festival trademark holders threatened to sue him over his FreakNik-themed birthday party. The “Knife Talk” rapper celebrated his 29th birthday with an event in Atlanta this weekend called FreakNik 21.
On Twitter, the FreakNik Festival page threatened to sue Savage and his co-manager Meezy for their alleged trademark infringement.
“Saw [21 Savage] and [his co-manager Meezy] FreakNik 21 last night at @underground_atlanta and looked like a super dope event. Sucks we gonna have to sue them when all we asked that they acknowledged us since it was a free event and they declined,” the tweet read.
The Atlanta-based production company After 9 resurrected FreakNik in 2019 and, despite challenges brought on by COVID-19, has continued to host events honoring the popular 80s tradition in Atlanta.
“Spending over a million to revive a brand, fighting negative public perception and proving we can do it 2 years with no issues, comes at a cost,” festival organizers continued. “We can’t let others just infringe on that. So know when you hear them talk about we tried to work it out very easily beforehand.”
Taking to Instagram, FreakNik organizers said they reached out to Meezy and offered to let him and Savage use the FreakNik trademark for free if they acknowledged their festival. However, in a text conversation shared in the post, Meezy said he “doesn’t appreciate folks tryna attach themselves to something we are doing for fun” and declined to change the event’s name.
“We said we will give you [the trademark] license for FREE and was gonna ask to make sure it has a nonprofit presence there. They said no… I didn’t want this smoke,” the Instagram post read. “Again we said, ‘Man, put on for the city. Just acknowledge us and we will give you the license FREE.’ Meezy said he would just change the name. He didn’t.”
The post also addressed other rappers using the FreakNik name, but organizers said Savage’s event was more of a “smack in our face.”
On Monday (Oct. 25), the “A Lot” rapper responded to the trademark holders’ complaint on Twitter. “Y’all better sit down somewhere,” he said.
Savage also brushed off the legal threat on Instagram, commenting on a Shade Room post: “Fuck it all y’all kids who tattoo knifes on they face for Halloween getting sued this year.”
See Savage’s and FreakNik trademark holders’ posts below.