Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Widow Files Lawsuit Against Wu-Tang Clan

The widow of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Icelene Jones, is now suing his group over unpaid royalties.

Source: Al Pereira / Getty

The late rapper’s wife, who is the administrator of his estate, has filed a lawsuit against Wu-Tang Productions, Inc., alleging that ODB, one of the founding members of the legendary hip-hop group, is owed at least $1 million in royalties.

According to reports from Variety, the lawsuit–which was filed in New York Supreme Court–cites a 1992 recording contract, which states that Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, and GZA were all supposed to receive 50 percent of royalties from Wu-Tang’s catalog. The suit goes on to claim that ODB is supposed to get 50 percent of net royalties from the exploitation of his image or likeness, according to TMZ.

But “despite its repeated efforts and requests, the estate has been unable to obtain payments and accountings from the defendant under the recording agreement for the sale of Wu-Tang Clan Recordings and ODB recordings since at least 2011,” the suit claims.

Though ODB’s estate did receive a check for $130,000 in July 2021, and payments in 2019 and 2020 from Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Jones alleges those “represent only a small percentage of amounts payable to the estate under the recording agreement,” according to the court documents.