In a turn of events that no one saw coming, longtime friends Misa Hylton and Mary J. Blige are embroiled in a court battle over a soured business deal.
According to All Hip-Hop, Blige is being sued by Hylton and rapper Vado for allegedly derailing his career and withholding his album to dissolve their business ties. The $5 million lawsuit, filed in New York, claims Blige sabotaged their relationship to sever Vado’s management contract with Hylton’s agency, M.I.S.A Management.
The Grammy Award winner is accused of withholding Vado’s completed album to pressure him into cutting ties with Hylton, a longtime associate and the R&B singer’s former stylist. Hylton and Vado assert that Blige and her company, Beautiful Life Productions, interfered with a signed management agreement that entitled M.I.S.A to 20 percent of the rapper’s earnings.
According to court documents, Blige allegedly persuaded Vado to abandon M.I.S.A during private yacht gatherings, hotel meetings, and exclusive events where M.I.S.A representatives were “intentionally left out.”
The lawsuit claims Blige’s security chief, described as her boyfriend, sought to sign Vado himself, urging him to ink a new contract without legal counsel and warning he would “lose out on opportunities” if he stayed loyal to M.I.S.A.
Blige and Vado collaborated on “Still Believe in Love” in 2023, but despite Vado completing an album in July 2024, the suit alleges Blige shelved the project. In private messages, Blige allegedly vowed not to release Vado’s album or allow him to tour “as long as he stayed with M.I.S.A.”
The plaintiffs claim Blige left Vado in “economic servitude” and seek damages for breach of contract, emotional distress, and interference with business relationships.
