Flo Rida won an $82.6 million settlement from a lawsuit he filed against the energy drink manufacturer Celsius. In May 2021, Flo Rida (real name: Tramar Dillard) and his production company, Strong Arm Productions, sued Celsius Holdings Inc. for breach of contract related to an endorsement agreement that had been in place between 2014 and 2018.
An all-female jury in South Florida found Celsius guilty of contract violation on Wednesday. The brand had fraudulently concealed information from Dillard, the jury found.
Dillard, as reported by NBC News, issued a statement in which he expressed “new respect for the judicial system” as a result of the verdict.
“It’s been a tough road, but we made it. In the beginning, my goals were simple: to achieve those for which I had to work “His words.
Flo Rida’s lawyer, John Uustal, released a statement separately: “We said we believed the jury could be trusted to do the right thing, that we would accept the verdict at face value. I’m relieved the jury agreed that Flo Rida deserves his just reward in this case.”
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The Artists Claimed The Company Did Not Fulfill The Terms Of Their Endorsement Agreement
The singer claimed that Celsius failed to inform him of sales milestones for Celsius’s drinks that would have resulted in stock compensation and royalties for him. His Hialeah, Florida–based Strong Arm Productions USA and Wellington, Florida–based D3M Licensing Group, both parties to the endorsement deal from 2014, have joined him in the lawsuit.
Celsius’s legal team argued that the company owes Dillard no additional compensation because it never reached the predetermined sales benchmarks.
There was a claim for “breach of contract, accounting, and unjust enrichment related to product endorsement services” that Dillard had rendered. A trial presided over by Judge David Haimes of the Broward Circuit Court concluded with the jury’s verdict being read out Wednesday.
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Now 43 years old, Flo Rida was born in Miami-Dade County and has sold more than 80 million records worldwide since the release of his debut album in 2008.
Flo Rida Prevails In An $82 Million Lawsuit Against Celsius Energy Drinks
A Florida jury sided with rapper Flo Rida in his lawsuit against Celsius energy drinks, awarding him $82.6 million in damages.
A jury found Celsius guilty on Wednesday of violating an endorsement agreement with Flo Rida that had been in place from 2014 through 2018. Additionally, the jury concluded that the company had fraudulently kept information from him.
Flo Rida (born Tramar Dillard) released a statement in which he expressed gratitude to the court system and said he now had “new respect for the judicial system.”
We made it through a difficult ordeal. In the statement, he said, “From the beginning, I wanted only what I worked for, nothing more and nothing less,” and that he was “instrumental in the Celsius that you know and love today.”
The rapper, whose discography includes the hits “Right Round” and “Whistle,” “filed the suit in 2021, claiming he was owed millions by Celsius in unpaid stock options and royalties from previous deals.
For his part, Flo Rida’s attorney John Uustal argued that his client wasn’t after a monetary settlement, but rather the 1% ownership he was promised, during closing arguments.
Uustal said in a separate statement that he and his client were placing their faith in the jury to sort through the “complicated legal issues” at play.
To paraphrase, “We said we’d trust the jury to do the right thing, we’d trust the verdict, accept the decision of the jury, “, the report concluded. I’m relieved that the jury agreed that Flo Rida deserves his just reward in this case.
Last Words
On Wednesday, a jury agreed that Celsius Energy Drinks had breached the terms of a 2014 endorsement agreement by failing to pay Flo Rida stock and royalties. The jury awarded Flo Rida more than $82 million in damages.
In 2021, Flo Rida (real name: Tramar Dillard) filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Celsius, claiming that the company had improperly used his likeness to expand internationally. During the five-day trial, his lawyers argued that Dillard deserved a 1 percent stake in the company because he was instrumental in reaching key sales milestones.
