KEY POINTS:
Rapper Remy Ma is being sued for US$20 million ($26.76 million) by the woman she is suspected of shooting in a dispute over money.
Makeda Barnes-Joseph was shot twice in the abdomen on July 14, after leaving a party in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. Authorities said the shooting occurred
after Remy Ma, whose real name is Remy Smith, accused Barnes-Joseph of taking US$2000 that was missing from her purse.
The lawsuit says the shooting left her disabled, anxious and depressed. The suit also named as defendants Universal Music Group, and individuals who play important roles in Remy Ma's career, because they should have known she "had a history of unlawful, violent and anti-social behaviour".
The defendants "encouraged her to engage in a pattern of harassment, threats, intimidation, physical violence and illegal acts which were designed and calculated by these defendants to enhance, market and promote the persona of 'Remy Ma'," according to the suit.
Barnes-Joseph, hospitalised for more than two weeks after the shooting, said in the lawsuit in the US District Court in Manhattan that she was leaving a birthday party for a friend when Remy Ma, who also attended the party, approached her car with a handgun.
According to the lawsuit, the 26-year-old rapper opened the passenger door of Barnes-Joseph's car, pointed a gun at her and demanded that Barnes-Joseph dump the contents of her purse.
When she did not release it, Barnes-Joseph was shot in the stomach and abdomen by the rapper, who then searched the bag while Barnes-Joseph bled, the lawsuit said. Finding nothing, she tossed the purse and contents aside and left without summoning medical assistance, the suit said.
Remy Ma has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges filed in connection with the shooting.
Her lawyer, Ivan Fisher, said the lawsuit "appears to be a publicity stunt consistent with the way Ms Barnes and her lawyer have, together with their publicist, been attempting to claim 15 minutes of fame on account of a terrible accident."
Fisher has said that since her arrest, Remy Ma has been unable to get sufficient US bookings, and a proposed recording contract has been put on hold. She is free on US$250,000 bail.
Because her injuries will require continuing medical treatment, Barnes-Joseph is entitled to at least US$20 million in damages, the lawsuit said.
Smith was nominated for a Grammy as part of the Terror Squad for the 2004 summer smash Lean Back.
Besides her solo career, Remy Ma has appeared on recordings with performers Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Eminem and R. Kelly.
Meanwhile, Kelly had to apologise to a court for missing an earlier hearing in his child pornography case. Kelly, 40, has pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges for allegedly videotaping sex acts with a young teenage girl in or before 2000.
He missed his Wednesday court appearance when his tour bus was delayed in Utah.
The singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, apologised, but Judge Vincent Gaughan ordered him to cancel a January 13 concert to ensure that he makes a January 14 court date.
- AP
