Ms. Lauryn Hill is hitting back at Pras Michél’s lawsuit against her, which claims she mishandled the Fugees’ tour and tried to profit from it.
In a statement on Tuesday, Hill called the lawsuit “baseless,” saying she added the Fugees to the tour to “aid [Michél’s] legal defense” during his court case.
“I’ve been silent and pushing through because I understood that Pras was under duress because of his legal battles and that this was perhaps affecting his judgment, state of mind, and character,” Hill told Rolling Stone, saying the lawsuit is “full of false claims and unwarranted attacks.”
Michél’s attorneys say in the lawsuit that Hill was taking 40 percent of the tour’s profits and then splitting the rest of the 60 percent with Wyclef Jean and Michél. They claim Michél earned very little from the 2023 Fugees arena tour because Hill controlled the budget, which allegedly included “unnecessary, and, most likely fictitious, expenses, that seemed to be designed to lose money.”
In her response, Hill said the lawsuit left out that Michél got a $3 million advance for the last tour and that he still hasn’t “repaid substantial loans” she gave him out of “goodwill” to help with his legal fees.
“Last year’s tour was planned to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It was going to happen whether the Fugees were involved or not,” she said. “The tour was expanded to include the Fugees because I found out Pras was in trouble and would need money to help his legal defense.”
Hill added that she paid “most of the tour expenses,” including the advance Michél received. “Pras has not paid back the money he was advanced and is currently in breach of this agreement,” she wrote.
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“Since my tour, band, production, and setup were already happening, the Fugees used the same production. I covered most of the costs, produced the show, and organized everything (with Wyclef’s help for the Fugees and his set),” Hill said. “Pras basically just had to show up and perform.”
Hill said that after the last tour, Pras thanked her for “saving his life” and added, “I have the receipts.”
She closed her statement by saying it’s “disheartening” to see Michél in this situation and pointed to his legal issues, which she said she had nothing to do with. At the time of the tour, Michél was dealing with major legal fees from a case with the Department of Justice, where he was a co-defendant with Jho Low, who allegedly stole $4.5 billion from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund. Michél was convicted in 2023 for acting as an agent of China but wasn’t accused of being part of the theft.
“I was not in Pras’ life when he made the unfortunate decision that led to his legal troubles,” Hill said. “I didn’t advise him to make that decision, so I’m not responsible for it, but I’ve still helped him.”
“Despite his attacks, I still have compassion and hope things work out for him,” she said, ending the note with, “Respectfully, MLH.”
Michél’s legal team responded to Hill’s statement, calling it “categorically false.”
“If she was so responsible with managing the tour, why hasn’t she sent an accounting to Pras?” wrote Erica Dumas, the publicist for Michél’s attorney Robert Meloni. “Why has she refused to let him audit her books and records? Where did the eight-figure advance from Mammoth go? And why hasn’t she addressed her chronic tardiness, which hurt the Fugees brand?”
In an earlier statement, Meloni criticized Hill’s “chronic lateness” for negatively affecting the tour, claiming her cancellations “financially penalized and defrauded Michél.” (Hill had previously blamed the media for “clickbait headlines” when the band canceled.)
“We assert that Ms. Hill misrepresented critical financial information and hid her plan to take 60 percent of the tour’s proceeds, leaving Mr. Michél with only 20 percent instead of their usual one-third split,” Meloni said.
The lawsuit also says Hill turned down a $5 million offer to play Coachella because they would be billed below No Doubt, with Michél claiming he wasn’t told about the offer until it was too late.
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