Drake Fears His Wealth Could Turn Jury Against Him in Upcoming Trial
Drake submitted documents requesting certain evident be banned from upcoming trial. Back in 2014, a company by the name of Hebrew Hustle and the estate of late jazz musician Jimmy Smith sued Drake over his track “Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music 2” from Nothing Was The Same.
They claimed the rapper sampled one of Smith’s songs for the track. However, Drake denied the allegations and filed a counter-suit against Hebrew Hustle, accusing the company of using his face and name on their website to make it seem like he worked with them. As the trial is set to begin later this year, Drake asked the judge to ban any talk about his finances in the case.
According to The Blast, Drake asked the judge to ban certain evidence and testimonies from being presented to the jury in his upcoming trial. In recently filed court documents, the rapper said he doesn’t want any evidence of his “financial condition or comparative wealth” to be brought up in front of the jury. He believes that the information would create an unfair bias against him.
Drake also said that he fears that Hebrew Hustle will turn the jury against him in the trial if they bring up his wealth, especially if it’s in comparison to Hebrew Hustle. The rapper claims his wealth is irrelevant to the issues in the case. He said the only reason they would bring up his money is to create some sort of unjustified sympathy for them.
Hebrew Hustle also requested a ban on the expert testimony Drake intended on presenting about the value of his brand. The expert concluded that the use of Drake’s name on Hebrew Hustle’s website was valued at $1M which was based on comparable celebrities such as the Kardashians to charge $1M for a club appearance.