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. However, the deal quickly fell through, leaving Epps and his company without their money, according to the suit.
The investment company is seeking $10.65m in damages.
Epps invested in Pineapple Express, a Hollywood dispensary, with the founders telling the rapper that the store would open by April 2021, the filing stated. However, the opening was delayed nearly a year to March 2022.
Eppsā agreement indicated he could pull out of the deal for 110 percent of his original investment if he gave a monthās notice, according to the lawsuit. In May 2022, Epps used this clause to pull out of the deal.
However, the lawsuit claims that Epps and the investment company never got their money back.
In December 2022, Epps texted executive, Vincent Zadeh, to ask about his money, according to the lawsuit. Zadeh told the rapper their company was āno longer honoringā his investment deal with the dispensary, the lawsuit claims.
Matthew Feinstein, co-founder of Pineapple Express and a defendant in the lawsuit, told The Independent that the company ādidnāt have the funds availableā in May 2022 but said they āwould get back to [Epps] when there were enough funds available to honor his request.ā
Feinstein added: āAnything else mentioned in the complaint is disputed and the matter will proceed to arbitration and be resolved there because there is an arbitration provision within the contract he signed which bars the filing of a lawsuit.ā
Zadehās attorney, Andrew Holmes, also dismissed the allegations.
āOpportunistic plaintiff lawyers are just using it as a means to sensationalize what is actually a non-issue,ā Holmes said in a statement shared with The Independent.
This isnāt the first time Zadeh has run into trouble. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against him in 2017, according to the lawsuit, and as a result he agreed to pay $12m in penalties.
The Independent has contacted Antimatter Holdingsā attorney for comment.
Epps, 46, is an award-winning music star whose latest album, āWelcome 2 Collegrove,ā was a collaboration with fellow rapper Lil Wayne and released in 2023. His song āNo Problem,ā performed alongside Chance the Rapper, won Best Rap Performance at the 2017 Grammy awards.