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ASHANTI SETTLES CONTRACT CASE: One-time producer agrees to drop litigation.
*One day after testifying in a Manhattan court against a former producer in a contract dispute, singer Ashanti and the plaintiff have settled the case to the satisfaction of both sides.
"I'm very pleased the plaintiff has voluntarily dismissed the case against us," Ashanti said outside court, where she had been scheduled to continue her testimony. “The lawsuits were time-consuming. I'd rather be in the studio writing.”
Genard Parker, who helped produce tracks for Ashanti in 1996, was seeking $2.3 million on claims that he was owed a percentage of her first three albums in exchange for releasing her from their contract.
Neither party discussed financial terms of the settlement outside of court Tuesday. But Ashanti’s lawyer, Alan Kaminsky, called the decision by both sides to drop all litigation "an excellent result."
Parker, meanwhile, told reporters that he was "happy it's over." The producer said he helped Ashanti record demo tapes nine years ago, when she was 16. Kaminsky told the jury that Parker "couldn't deliver for her" and that he eventually signed a release that allowed her to pursue other record companies.
Although Ashanti signed a deal that allowed Parker to receive a sales percentage of her first three records with her next record company, the company ultimately dropped her, so she owed Parker nothing from that arrangement, Kaminsky said.
Last year, another jury concluded that Ashanti broke a contract with Parker and owed him $630,000. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff rejected all but $50,000 of the award on the grounds that the jurors did not have adequate facts to determine damages so they were left to speculate. The judge's decision led to this latest lawsuit seeking $2.3 million.
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