Mary J. Blige Denies Landlord’s Claim That She Skipped Out On $60K Rent

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Golden Venus Sued Mary J. Blige For Skipping Out On Rent For Luxury Mansion

Mary J. Blige has finally responded to a 2018 case that accuses her of dodging rent payments, trashing her rental home and “removing” items from the property.

The Queen of hip-hop soul filed court papers last week denying owing ex-landlord Golden Venus thousands in back rent and damaging her rental mansion, according to court papers obtained by BOSSIP.

In her response, Blige says she already paid Golden Venus a lump sum when she left, and they both agreed to cancel the rent contract and ink a new deal. Blige said although the settlement sum was less than the amount she owed, it nevertheless meant that the landlord has no standing in pursuing the back rent case.

She said that the landlord would be “unjustly enriched” is the judge forced her to pay any more money.

Blige also said that even if she had damaged items in the mansion, she’s been negatively affected by the case in an equal or greater amount, according to her court docs. She also blamed Golden Venus’ “unlawful or improper conduct” as the reason for the messed up mansion and missing items – but doesn’t spell out how.

Interestingly, Blige insisted that her legal filing was for her alone, and did not include her codefendant and ex-spouse Kendu Isaacs.

Source: Keith Griner / Getty

In Sept. 2018, Golden Venus LLC sued both Blige and Isaacs for breach of contract, claiming the pair reneged on an agreement to pay rent on a Beverly Hills mansion, but not allegedly before damaging the place and taking off with A/V equipment, according to court papers obtained by BOSSIP.

The landlord alleges Blige caused $16,000 in damages to the place, never paid a portion of the rent and that audiovisual equipment in the home went missing, according to court papers obtained by BOSSIP.

The case remained in legal limbo for over a year as the landlord struggled to serve Blige and Isaacs with the lawsuit. There was a default judgment hearing scheduled for Jan. 14, but it was scuppered at the last minute once Blige filed her court papers.

Blige wants the judge to rule against Golden Venus and for the company to pay her lawyer’s fees.

Blige and the landlord are due back in court next month for settlement negotiations. We’ve reached out to lawyers for both Golden Venus and Blige for comment.