Rapper Tramar “Flo Rida” Dillard is about to kick off his civil battle with Celsius, an energy drink company that he claims owes him money for breach of contract. Law&Crime will live stream once the trial starts.
In 2014, Dillard reached an endorsement deal with the energy drink company Celsius. He says it was a big success, improving the business’ fortunes.
“By way of background, Flo Rida maintained a successful endorsement partnership with Celsius which was highly effective in opening new doors for Celsius and its products,” the plaintiffs wrote. They maintained his deal included him getting paid for reaching certain performance benchmarks.
“In contemplation of the highly influential and ongoing impact of this endorsement partnership with Celsius, the compensation obligations to Plaintiffs included bonus compensation, incentive compensation, and royalties,” the lawsuit states. “While certain guaranteed payments were payable at contract inception, others became due from Celsius later at various specified intervals or upon reaching certain benchmarks and continuing thereafter.”
Dillard is seeking at least $30,000 in damages in this breach of contract lawsuit aimed at Celsius brand energy drinks. Dillard claimed that they failed to pay what they owed him.
Celsius denied the allegations. Among other defenses, they maintained that the statute of limitations ran out, said that they already paid Flo Rida “far in excess of what he is entitled to,” and that he should have brought the claim sooner. They filed a countersuit, seeking money back.
“The first agreement was executed in March of 2014, and Plaintiffs made no pursuit of the allegations herein until seven years later,” they said.
That first agreement ended in March 2016.
“For over five years the Plaintiffs failed to take material action when Plaintiffs should have,” they said.
Plaintiffs, including Dillard’s company Strong Arm Productions, argue that Celsius kept them in the dark about the money. In an accounting claim, the lawsuit said Celsius “failed to properly handle the royalty calculations, payments and stock transfers and instead retained funds and assets to which Plaintiffs were entitled. These material facts were concealed from Plaintiffs which delayed the discovery of Defendant’s wrongdoing and deprived them from knowledge relating to their entitlement to additional royalties and shares.”