FIGHTING BACK

Rapper Sues His Former Hype Man for Slander Over Social Media Posts

Fat Joe claims to be the victim of a criminal conspiracy to seeking to extort him.

Rapper Fat Joe has filed a lawsuit against his former hype man over claims he repeatedly called the musician a pedophile on social media. The ’90s rapper, real name Joe Cartagena, claims his longtime hype man, Terrance “T.A.” Dixon, is attempting to extort him in an attempt to collect money he didn’t earn and has resorted to “countless posts on social media containing a torrent of wholly fabricated, grotesque, and scandalous allegations—accusing Cartagena of unspeakable acts such as pedophilia, statutory rape and sexual assault,” according to court documents. Also named in the lawsuit is Dixon’s attorney Tyrone Blackburn, who is also representing Diddy accuser Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones in an unrelated case. Fat Joe alleges that Blackburn has threatened to “report him to Homeland Security” via email, while Dixon has made multiple accusations on Instagram that the rapper is sleeping with an underage girl, and alleges that he once flew a 16-year-old girl across state lines for sex. Accompanying the claim was a picture of Joe alongside Diddy and DJ Khaled. Fat Joe has denied all the allegations, calling them “completely false and part of a criminal conspiracy orchestrated between a disgruntled former hype man and his attorney.”