Flavor Flav Facing $1.8 Million Lawsuit

By: Yves Erwin Salomon

Public Enemy hype man and reality show star Flavor Flav has been doing quite well for himself lately and now some unfinished business from his past may cost the rapper $1.8 million. The New York Post reports that Judge Dianne Renwick has ordered Flav, whose real name is William Drayton, to pay a plaintiff interest on a decade-old civil suit judgment of $850,000 which brings the grand total to $1.8 million.

Flavor Flav allegedly shot at Thelouizs English during an altercation at his Bronx apartment building, the Executive Towers, in 1993. The rapper was charged with attempted murder but he was eventually convicted of criminal possession of a weapon in 1995. Flav was sentenced to two months behind bars and three years probation.

In 1996, English filed suit against Flavor Flav but, according to Flav, he was never served notice. English maintains that a process server left the documents with Flav's doorman. In 1997, the plaintiff was awarded a default judgment of $850,000 ($350,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages) for civil assault and battery.

Flavor Flav team believes the figure with interest should be closer to $1.4 million but the rapper's legal team plans to file an appeal because Judge Renwick is married to Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson who tried the rapper for the shooting several years ago. The rapper's lawyer, Charles Johnson, said, "Her actions were retaliatory because her husband lost a series of cases to Flav."

In related news, Flavor Flav will be roasted on Comedy Central on August 12th at 10 p.m.