It looks like Tekashi 6ix9ine, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, will be headed back to court over the same botched robbery to which he previously pleaded guilty. Two publicists filed a lawsuit against him this week, accusing the rapper of robbing them at gunpoint and videotaping it, and asking for compensatory and punitive damages in an unspecified amount.
According to the documents obtained by Vanity Fair, Seketha Wonzer and Kevin Dozier claim they were attacked by Hernandez and four others in the vestibule of 264 West 40th Street on April 3, 2018, when they were mistaken for members of a rival record label. The publicists were there to record a podcast with DJ Thoro, “a confidant of rapper 50 Cent,” but as they were leaving, “five armed men rushed towards them from a black Suburban SUV” and robbed them as Hernandez filmed them from the car. That video was later posted to the social media account of vlogger DJ Akademiks, where it “went viral.”
After the robbery, the documents state, the attackers then yelled at them “Fuck Rap-A-Lot,” the record label 6ix9ine has claimed denied him entry to a March 2018 gig in Houston because he didn’t “check in,” costing him a paycheck. However, J. Prince, the CEO of Rap-A-Lot, has said that “gig” was, in fact, his son’s party and he simply didn’t want him there.
The group of assailants allegedly stole Wonzer’s backpack, which contained six hard drives with 12 years of client information, a pair of shoes, and a video camera, and stole $1,500 in cash from Dozier, as well as his late father’s gold chain.
In December 2019, the rapper was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the robbery and additional racketeering charges as part of a deal he made with federal prosecutors, which involved testifying against his codefendants and fellow members of the Nine Trey Gang. Before making the deal, he was facing 47 years in prison. However, in April, he was released to home confinement due to the coronavirus, before ultimately being freed in August.
This new lawsuit against the rapper alleges RICO violations, assault, battery, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 6ix9ine’s lawyer Brian Caplan told Page Six he had not seen the suit yet and would reserve comment.
More Great Stories From Vanity Fair
— Inside the Always Online, All-Consuming World of Twin Flames Universe
— Rudy Giuliani’s Daughter, Caroline, on How to Accept That Trump Lost
— Carl Lentz, Ranin Karim, and Hillsong’s Unfurling Scandal
— Billie Eilish Shares How She Spent the Pandemic in Latest Time Capsule
— The Queen Says Goodbye to Her Beloved Dorgi, Vulcan
— Barack Obama on His Book, the Election, and What Actually Makes America Great
— How We Unmasked the Hollywood Con Queen Suspect
— From the Archive: Her Most Loyal Subjects, a History of the Queen’s Kennels
— Not a subscriber? Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.