S Poddar
Following lawsuits that arose from the collapse of the 2023 world tour for the group Fugees and cancellation of scheduled 2024 shows, singer Lauryn Hill struck back, labeling the allegations presented by the group’s co-founder Pras Michél “baseless” and packed with “false claims and unwarranted attacks.”
In 2023, she was set to embark on the second half of a Fugees reunion tour, 25 years after what is arguably her magnum opus: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The tour ended abruptly when Hill cited “serious vocal strain,” but subsequent tour dates scheduled for 2024 cancelled with little explanation.
Michél blamed the tour’s failure on Hill’s reported “narcissistic tendencies” and “arrogance.” The lawsuit, filed October 1 quoted Michél saying that the tour had been primed for huge success, with nearly all the arena shows sold in advance. Still, he said, he had nothing left as a result of the tour, and Hill had either mismanaged or budgeted the marketing and promotion for the event.
In his complaint, Michél also alleged that the budget was “filled with unnecessary and most probably fictional expenses” designed to make the tour a financial loss. He further charges that the entire escapade was a “veiled and devious attempt” by Hill to plunder him. One point of contention in the lawsuit was her refusal to agree to a $5 million fee to perform at Coachella, which Michél intimated represented part of her arrogance.
In a statement to The Independent, Hill rejected these claims firmly. Her words were: “It was always the plan for me to do the 2023 tour and celebrate my album’s anniversary. It was going to happen. It was going to happen whether it included Fugees or didn’t.” Hill told The Independent that she stretched out the tour to make room for Fugees after knowing about Michél’s financial situation, which included needing money to defend himself legally.
She also disclosed that Michél received a $3 million advance for the tour, but he believed it was a desperately needed amount to pay his lawyers. According to reports, Hill and Wyclef Jean skipped their advances so that Michél could amass the monies required. Still, Hill alleges that Michél owes money advanced to him that he failed to pay back. But now, says Hill, he is violating the terms of the repayment arrangement which makes the lawsuit especially unfair in her view.
In the statement, Hill also said that she carried the bulk of the cost of the tour because most of the advance money was remitted to Michél. She described the latter as “acquiescing in his dependency from time to time,” even going to the extent of thanking her for “saving his life”.
The trio of Hill, Michél, and Wyclef Jean, formed in New Jersey in 1990, achieved international success through their blend of hip-hop, soul, and reggae. It had been almost four years since fans had last heard Hill’s voice, following her period of withdrawal from music, and 16 years since the release of the iconic album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which is still regarded as one of the most incredible albums of the late 1990s.
Michél’s latest brush with the law complicates things between Hill and himself. In 2023, for example, he was convicted of diverting Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho’s money through straw donors into Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012. Since then, he filed a motion for retrial citing that reliance on an artificial intelligence tool by his lawyer was part of the reason for his conviction.
Hill’s defense focuses attention on the fact that the complaint neglects her financial support of Michél and the work she was doing on his behalf during his hour of crisis. One cannot help but feel that she thinks this lawsuit is the ungrateful response to everything she did for her former bandmate.
While Michél can condemn Hill for sabotaging what could have been a good tour, Hill’s story reads more like a tale of friendship and camaraderie turned on its head by the issue of repayment. Fans of the Fugees will wait and see how much more drama unfolds before the curtain closes on this case that may spell the end of any hope for future reunions.
The situation is fluid, and it is unclear how the allegations Michél leveled against him will fare in court or if the Fugees will ever be able to put such things behind them. This much, however, is certain: both Hill and Michél will never be able to separate their individual legacy from that of Fugees, as lawsuits, financial disagreements, and strained relationships have entangled the duo into a web of litigation and bad blood.
