A week after Fat Joe was hit with an explosive $20 million lawsuit filed by his ex-hype man Terrance “T.A.” Dixon, the rapper penned a passionate statement pushing back against the accusations.
“I’ve been tested the last few months — I’ve lost my big brother, my father, my mother and now i’m fighting against these disgusting lies. But please know I will not break and I will NEVER back down,” Joe wrote.
“I’ve had individuals in my circle take my love and kindness for weakness, but how many times must we forgive them?” he continued. “I’ve had people steal from me, grow jealous of me, lie on me. Through it all, me and my family are the ones stuck dealing with the consequences of their bad decisions.”
“If you get fired for doing something wrong, just take the L and live with it,” added the “Lean Back” rapper, presumably referring to Dixon’s eventual dismissal. “But instead, they plot on your downfall as they watch you move on with your life. They decide to go after one of the things you value the most — your reputation. They figure they can make up the most insane stories and, if they threaten you with a lawsuit, then you’ll pay and they’ll feel like they finally won.”
He concluded the statement, saying: “Problem with your theory, I’ve never let anyone on the streets extort me, so how would I ever let a crooked attorney and a coward ex-hype man extort me? I’m from the Bronx!”
Joe then goes on to call out Dixon’s attorney, who was arrested only hours prior to the statement’s publication time for assault: “Mr. Tyrone Blackburn attorney at law since you want the clout, we will finish you in court. The time of lawyers using their law license as a badge to extort people and destroy families with no evidence is over!! I’m not the one!! You’ve messed with the wrong one this time!!”
Prior to Dixon’s lawsuit, Joe sued his ex-hype man in April for extortion and defamation after he claimed his former boss was a pedophile. In the suit, which was reviewed by Complex, Joe accused Dixon of making “countless posts on social media containing a torrent of wholly fabricated, grotesque, and scandalous allegations — accusing Cartagena of unspeakable acts such as pedophilia, statutory rape and sexual assault.”
The pair worked together from 2006 to 2019 until the relationship soured when Joe claims Dixon was upset over not being compensated by his record label, alleging it was the rapper’s doing. Dixon enlisted the help of Blackburn to request compensation as a “ghostwriter and uncredited vocalist,” eventually threatening to file a complaint alleging sexual misconduct, fraud, statutory rape and more.
