Dame Dash‘s stake in Roc-A-Fella Records will officially be auctioned off by the U.S. Marshal to make good on his outstanding debt.
TMZ obtained documents on Thursday (August 1), revealing Dame’s 33.3 percent interest in the famed record label will be sold off at a public auction in New York City on August 29. The purpose of the auction is specified as collecting judgement – which stems from the $823k he owes to movie producer Josh Weber for copyright infringement and defamation over the 2016 film, Dear Frank.
Weber’s lawyer Christopher Brown will be an active participant, as the docs stated bidders will have to email him to register for the auction. Additionally, the minimum bid can’t be less than $1.2 million, and a deposit of 20 percent must be put down at the time of the sale (which equates to at least $240k.)
JAY-Z’s classic debut Reasonable Doubt is among the assets that will be included – which Dame Dash himself seemed to hint at just last month.
The embattled Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder took to Instagram on July 19 and posted a photo of Reasonable Doubt alongside a promo photo of him, Jay and the label’s third founder, Kareem “Biggs” Burke.
In the post, Dame wrote: “This shit is for sale 1/3 … only real inquiries only.”
A 2022 court ruling said that Dash was prohibited from selling any part of JAY’s classic debut without permission from Roc-A-Fella, but he was allowed to sell his 1/3rd stake in the overall business.
The lawsuit arose when Dame planned to auction off a stake in the album Reasonable Doubt as a non-fungible token (NFT) back in 2022.
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Earlier this year, after a judge ordered Dame to sell his shares to make good on his aforementioned debt, both Jay and Biggs objected on the basis that company bylaws mandate that the board of directors must first approve the sale of any stakes in the imprint.
However, U.S. Magistrate Robert W. Lehrburger ruled that the former exec’s one-third ownership of Roc-A-Fella can, in fact, be seized to help cover the judgment since it is his personal property.
In his 15-page decision, Lehrburger blasted Jay and Biggs for creating a no sell-off clause during a 2021 board meeting that Dame did not attend or vote for. He ordered Roc-A-Fella to deliver Dame’s stock certificate to the U.S. Marshals Service for an auction in 180 days.
Jay and Biggs’ main objection is less about siding with Dame, however, and stems from concerns that an outsider can purchase the intellectual rights of Roc-A-Fella. To address the issue, Lehrburger said, “They can participate in the auction and place the winning bid.”