Megan Thee Stallion‘s attorneys have responded to the “sensationalist” work harassment lawsuit filed against her last month.
READ MORE: On the cover – Megan Thee Stallion: “I’m really working on my dynasty right now”
Back in April, camera man Emilio Garcia accused Thee Stallion – real name Megan Pete – and her management Roc Nation of harassment and creating a hostile work environment. He claimed that the Houston rapper had sex in a car in front of him while touring in Spain in 2022 and made “sexual and fat-shaming comments” towards him.
Garcia added that he believes Thee Stallion and Roc Nation later retaliated against him by reducing his work and eventually terminating him.
At the time, Pete’s Pete’s attorneys Mari Henderson and Alex Spiro said in a statement: “This is an employment claim for money – with no sexual harassment claim filed and with salacious accusations to attempt to embarrass her. We will deal with this in court.”
Megan Thee Stallion at the 2024 Pre-GRAMMY Gala & GRAMMY Salute to Industry Icons. Photo credit: Momodu Mansaray/Wireimage
In a report released by Billboard, Megan’s lawyers filed their response yesterday (May 30). Henderson and Spiro said Garcia’s lawsuit “consists almost entirely of falsehoods, misrepresentations of fact, and outlandish claims that have no basis in fact or law and no merit.”
Spiro went on to call the plaintiff “a con artist who is manipulating the judicial system to act as his publicist and bullhorn in a desperate attempt to boost his failed singing career while trying to tear down the successful career of Megan Thee Stallion.”
Later in the report, Spiro alleged the former contractor was terminated after he repeatedly “falsified his invoices and overcharged Ms. Pete for services he never completed.”
The lawyers added: “Angry at the loss of this high-profile gig and his exile from the inner circles of stardom, [the] plaintiff filed a factually and legally frivolous Complaint.
“Plaintiff took a run-of-the-mill wage and labor dispute and trumped up his frivolous claims with sensationalist false allegations of sex, debauchery, and workplace harassment for the sole purpose of creating a media firestorm to tarnish the career and reputation of Ms. Pete.”
Megan Thee Stallion (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Thee Stallion’s attorneys also argued that the case was filed in entirely the wrong place and are now seeking to have it moved to federal court. They said the case has “absolutely no connection to California state court” – citing the fact that Garcia lives in Texas and Thee Stallion lives in Florida.
“Plaintiff was more concerned with staging his lawsuit in an improper forum than accurately pleading the facts underlying his claims,” Henderson and Spiro wrote.
Billboard obtained a statement from Garcia’s attorney Ron Zambrano, who said Megan never raised any issues about him falsifying invoices or overcharging. They called the response filing “another attempt by another celebrity to shame the victim and shift blame from their own abhorrent behavior.”
“Her attorneys are correct, our client is angry, but not by being so-called exiled ‘from the inner circles of stardom’,” Zambrano said. “He’s angry because of how he was treated. Megan Thee Stallion broke the law. Period. No one is lying here but her.”
NME has reached out to Megan Thee Stallion’s representatives to comment on the ongoing lawsuit.
Megan Thee Stallion at ‘Mean Girls’ (2024) New York film premiere. Photo credit: KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images
Megan Thee Stallion is currently on the North American leg of her ‘Hot Girl Summer’ world tour, with GloRilla as her support act.
Soon, the tour will head to the UK and Europe without GloRilla, starting in Glasgow on July 4. She will also stop in Paris, Amsterdam, Birmingham and more before ending the leg in London’s O2 Arena on July 17.
Check here for any available tickets for the US and Europe shows. Those looking for tickets for any of Thee Stallion’s UK shows can find them here.
In other news, Eminem name-checked Megan on his latest single ‘Houdini’, publicly asking the rapper to collaborate with him.
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