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The back and forth regarding the late Big Pun’s financial matters continues. The Bronx legend’s widow Liza Rios says that N.O.R.E., Fat Joe and Miss Jones are either lying or speaking out of pocket.
As spotted on Vibe the tension between Fat Joe and Liza Rios is up and it’s stuck. Since the untimely passing of the “Twinz” rapper, questions have surrounded his contractual dealings with his friend and then business partner Fat Joe. The Rios family, namely Liza, have alleged that millions of dollars due to the fallen MC went missing and more. Over the last couple of months the conversation behind whether or not Joe finessed Pun have arose via the Drink Champs podcast.
During a May episode, Joe said that he had long given Pun’s publishing back to the estate and more. In a recent press release Liza calls big cap on that claim. “An expert report showed some $2.3 Million in royalties that were unpaid by the joint venture between Jelly’s Jams and Fat Joe’s music publishing company but the parties settled for an undisclosed amount. Fat Joe was never dismissed from the case! In 2016, as a result of the case there was a settlement that included the majority of Big Pun’s music publishing rights being returned to Big Pun’s family” the statement reads.
“In addition, the estate obtained control over the Big Pun artist accounts with Loud/Sony and Atlantic that were unrecouped. Returning the music publishing rights and artist royalty was not a voluntary act on Fat Joe’s part, it happened as a result of the lawsuit being filed against him.” Joe has blatantly denied the allegations of robbing the estate and even dropped a comment for her saying “@iamlizarios i never lost that case i never owed you a cent he is still unrecouped you was sitting their when the judge asked you why I’m here i owed nothing just say the truth that’s all.”
After the Fat Joe Drink Champs appearance, N.O.R.E. also revealed in an interview that he looked over Big Pun’s original contract and added that he saw nothing wrong with the offer. Liza points out that the recording contract terms were never the issue. “Liza has never claimed that the recording contract that Pun signed with Terror Squad/Loud Records/Sony was unfair or that it was the basis for her claims against Fat Joe”.
Additionally, Liza disputes Miss Jones’ claims that Big Pun slotted her to receive a percentage of his publishing. “Miss Jones’ recent statement that she is receiving publishing income from Big Pun’s music publishing catalog is untrue, and is unsupported by any documentation that the estate has or received in the lawsuit or that can be seen on any public music publishing websites. We request that Miss Jones provide the estate with the documentation that supports her statement, as any such funds properly belong to the estate of Big Pun.”
