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Rapper Tauheed Epps, better known as 2 Chainz, is suing a Los Angeles cannabis company over an investment deal gone wrong.
The rapper invested $1.5 million in the company in 2021, according to a lawsuit filed last week in California by Antimatter Holdings, an investment firm through which Epps made the deal. But the deal quickly fell through, and Epps and his company were left without their money, according to the lawsuit.
The investment company is demanding $10.65 million in damages.
Epps invested in Pineapple Express, a Hollywood dispensary, with founders telling the rapper the store would open by April 2021, the filing said. However, the opening was delayed by nearly a year to March 2022.
According to the complaint, Epps’ agreement provided that he could exit the deal with one month’s notice for 110 percent of his original investment. In May 2022, Epps used that clause to exit the deal.
However, the lawsuit alleges that Epps and the investment company never got their money back.
In December 2022, Epps texted executive Vincent Zadeh to ask for his money, the lawsuit says. Zadeh told the rapper that her company would “no longer honor” its investment agreement with the pharmacy, the lawsuit says.
Matthew Feinstein, co-founder of Pineapple Express and defendant in the case, said: The Independent that the company “did not have the necessary funds” in May 2022, but said it would “get back to (Epps) when sufficient funds were available to meet its request.”
Feinstein added: “Everything else mentioned in the complaint is disputed and the matter will be brought before arbitration and resolved there because the contract he signed contains an arbitration clause that precludes the filing of a lawsuit.”
Zadeh’s lawyer Andrew Holmes also denied the allegations.
“Opportunistic plaintiffs’ lawyers are just using it as a means to hype up something that isn’t really an issue,” Holmes said in a statement sent to The Independent.
This is not the first time Zadeh has gotten into trouble. According to the lawsuit, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint against him in 2017, after which he agreed to pay a $12 million fine.
The Independent has contacted Antimatter Holdings’ attorney for comment.
Epps, 46, is an award-winning music star whose latest album, “Welcome 2 Collegrove,” was a collaboration with fellow rapper Lil Wayne and released in 2023. His song “No Problem,” which he performed with Chance the Rapper, won Best Rap Performance at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
