Busta Rhymes Settles Lawsuit

By: Yves Erwin Salomon

Rapper Busta Rhymes settled a lawsuit with a handyman, Melvin Smith, who claims the rapper and his bodyguard roughed him up when he attempted to get an autograph in 2005. The New York Post reports that Rhymes reached the settlement on Monday (May 21st), just one day before he was scheduled to appear before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman in an attempt to have the $100,000 judgment against him thrown out.

A $100,000 judgment against the rapper was entered when he failed to show up to court but, according to Rhymes, he was never served and was unaware that he needed to be in court.

According to an affidavit submitted by Rhymes, the process servers went to the home of his ex-girlfriend in Baldwin, Long Island. In the legal filing, the rapper wrote, "While I own the property, I have no access to it. I was required (by court order) to provide this home for the mother of my three children, from whom I am estranged and with whom I have been embroiled in child-custody proceedings for over two years."

Rhymes also alleged that he never met Smith but he still reached an undisclosed settlement. According to Smith, Rhymes and his bodyguard Troy Green assaulted him for no reason when he attempted to get an autograph at a sandwich shop near City Hall. Smith suffered a cut above his eye which required four stitches, and he was left with several black-and-blue marks after the incident.