Photo Credit: Nicki Minaj (TikTok)
Nicki Minaj faces yet another legal battle over her unpaid debts—this time from a law firm that claims the rapper is ghosting them over the $230,000 she owes them.
Law firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani (GRSM) filed a collection lawsuit against rapper Nicki Minaj over $229,541 in outstanding legal bills in Los Angeles County Superior Court back in March. However, the artist has completely ignored them. Now, the law firm has filed a motion for default judgement, with a hearing scheduled for September to officially decide whether to grant it.
GRSM represented Minaj in a 2023 copyright lawsuit, when a composer named Julius Johnson claimed that the artist stole the beat for her 2014 track “I Lied.” That case was settled confidentially in late 2024 after 18 months of litigation. Crucially, the settlement dictated that both sides would bear their own legal fees.
The amount Nicki owes the firm was determined via industry-standard billable hours, accounted for in tenths of an hour at a rate of $650 per hour for senior partners and $425 an hour for associates. The contract explicitly stated that Minaj is liable for the fees “regardless of the outcome” of the case.
A provision dictates that the winner of any collection dispute is awarded the additional legal fees or costs incurred during the collection proceeding—meaning Minaj’s bill will probably go up.
The musician has already faced multiple major six-figure debt disputes over the last six months. These include a judge threatening to order the sale of her Los Angeles mansion back in January before she finally settled a $500,000 judgement owed to a concert security guard who was allegedly assaulted by Minaj’s husband. In March, Nicki was hit with a separate $275,000 lawsuit from a concert production company claiming she “inexplicably” stiffed them on fees.
Now, the same thing is reportedly happening to the law firm that represented her.
Notably, Minaj was dropped by her lawyer back in February amid a $10 million defamation lawsuit filed against her by a former fan. Attorney Matthew Abbott of Northstar Business Enterprises withdrew from the case after a “communication breakdown” with Nicki Minaj, who apparently stopped responding after “months” of reaching out via text and email.