Following years of both social and legal back and forth, Fat Joe and Big Pun’s widow, Liza Rios, have finally settled out of court in her breach of contract case, according to Bossip.
In 2014, Rios filed a lawsuit against Fat Joe seeking more than $1,000,000. The late rapper’s widow claimed that she had struck a deal with Fat Joe to split any money made by Big Pun following the rapper’s death, however later alleged that despite the deal, she hadn’t received any money since 2005.
Joey Crack and his co-defendant, music publisher John “Jellybean” Benitez of Jelly’s Jams, made a deal with Rios to prevent the case from going to trial.
The deal was announced Wednesday morning (June 22) during a status hearing at Manhattan Federal Court. Fat Joe, nor John “Jellybean” Benitez were present at the hearing.
“Your honor, the parties have settled,” Fat Joe’s lawyer, Benjamin Stranzl, said.
Although the terms of the settlement remain confidential, one music royalty expert claims Big Pun was fleeced more than $2,000,000.
“Based on information provided and my professional industry knowledge, I have determined that Big Pun has been underpaid by at least $2,076,093,” Ali Adawiya, who testified on behalf of Rios in the lawsuit, wrote, according to court documents obtained by Bossip back in March.
Following yesterday’s announcement, Rios’ lawyer, Lita Rosario, spoke to Bossip to offer her reaction to the settlement.
“We are pleased with the settlement,” Rosario said. “We think it was fair, and we’re pleased.”
Fat Joe’s lawyers, Benjamin Stranzl and John Cain, refused to pass comment after the hearing.
Last year, Rios and her attorney discussed the aforementioned lawsuit in a three-part interview with AllHipHop.com.
“He loved Joe and the squad,” Rios said during the interview. “That was his heart. So for him to give so much to them, and give so much to Terror Squad, and make Terror Squad what it was, because he made it what it was…for them to turn their backs on his family, his kids… he’d be heartbroken.”
Big Pun passed away in February, 2000 at the age of 28. At the time of his death, the rapper weighed nearly 700 pounds.
I’m glad everyone is happy,,I hope now that could be put to the side once the money comes,,hopefully fatjoe reach out to criss Riviera & make some good music ,cause criss lyrics is just like daddy was, Hardcore.
Fuckoff stupid – puns son will never do anything with fat joe / rivers be with Cuban link who was puns real twin .. soon the real story will be documented by Cuban Link
You not as smart as you think dick,river don’t be with Cuban link that was years ago,,plus its very possible fat Joe& criss in the studio despite what u think u know.
Only MC i seen giving Chris Rivers some real support features videos is Styles P
Good for her. Joe is a fuckin snake for cheating Puns family out of money. And I’m sick of hearing this fool drop N-bomb after N-bomb like that shit is cool. U MOST DEFINITELY DONT HAVE AFRICAN GENES. This dude is native/Spanish mix so stfu. I’m Cuban and I am black and can prove my African heritage, unlike this fraud.
Joe is 1/2 Cuban FYI
Cuban is not race Moron
Lol who says “Moron” in Hip Hop lol
Who says lol?.
stfu ok, let the late big pun rest in peace.
Ok and the Awaraks & the Carib Indians populated Cuba before Columbus stumbled upon yeah yeah…. Forget all that who the hell says “moron” in Hip Hop culture????
Wally Cleaver lookin ass get out my culture
@Hollywood. “Joe is 1/2 Cuban”……..and? Just because he’s half Cuban doesn’t mean shit. Cuba is a melting pot of different races. There are whites,Spanish,black, mixes etc in Cuba. Uneducated idiots need to get this shit outta they head, that when somebody say they Cuban or Puerto Rican or Dominican that they automatically have African genes.
I dont hate Fat Joe but didnt he get 10 million for the Terror Squad label and gave each of the crew 10 grand from it?
Everybody in Pun’s life was an enabler: they enabled him to beat his wife & to eat himself to death. I understand you can’t always stop a grown-ass adult from doing them, but it’s insane how many family members & friends looked the other way…said they wanted to “mind their own business” when he’d hit (or pistol whip) women in front of their faces. To have his little girl praying for “daddy not to hit mommy” and then not reporting it to the cops or CPS? Unforgivable.
It sounds like his sister genuinely wanted to help him lose the weight, but nobody else seemed that concerned. From my experience, it seems like a lot of Puerto Rican families are dysfunctional in that the women clean up the messes their husbands & sons make without letting them suffer the natural consequences of their actions. While these women are loud & opinionated, they treat males like kings which doesn’t serve anyone well in the end. Quit cooking, cleaning up his messes and enabling him to be a loser. Boys should be just as adept at housework & child-rearing as girls are taught to be.
Stop enabling bad behavior & demand better. If your son’s cutting class & hanging with gangs, DO something other than nag at him. If your partner is cheating, beating or disrespecting you, leave. That goes for women of every race, btw.
Something dark must’ve been haunting this man for him to live & die the way he did. I wish his kids peace.
How dare you say PR people are all disfuntional
You fucking disfunctional
Fat Joe is one of the realest rappers in the game and put in mad work to get where he’s got. So what if he doesn’t have African slave genes in him, don’t believe all the gossip your hear about this. Puns wife has poisoned fat joes name to the kids. She sounds messed up and has programmed her kids to hate which is bad for them as hate attracts hate. Stop blaming fat joe, he is a pioneer in hip hop and was rapping when you were sticking Peter Pan pictures on your wall.
Thank u… Cos pun was suppose to save money for his wife….. Now everything that goes wrong fat Joe is to be blamed
Puerto Ricans are a hybrid! African, Spaniard, and Taino Indian. We more American and African then anyone in the United States! Also known as the perfect human being. Google it! Fat Joe gets no love in Puerto Rico for what he did to Pun. He robbed Big Pun for millions. They proved it in court. We can say Puns wife was bad with money but that’s here say. No facts no proof! Facts was put out there in court. Fat Joe no bueno