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Topics: Celebrity
Stewart Perrie
Topics: Celebrity
Flo Rida has won a massive lawsuit against energy drink company Celsius.
The 'Right Round' rapper accused the brand of breaking its contract with him and he's now been awarded $82.6 million.
The Associated Press says the hiphop artist, whose real name is Tramar Lacel Dillard, alleged Celsius 'tried to hide money from him'.
In a statement to the outlet, the 43-year-old said: "Basically, I helped birth this company, and all we was looking for was some trustworthy people who acted as if they were family.
"And then when it comes down to the success of today, they just forgot about me."
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Law&Crime says Dillard only wanted the 1 per cent of stock ownership that he was promised in exchange for an endorsement deal that was forged in 2014 and renewed two years later.
He wasn't looking for a specific dollar amount and he's since been given a hell of a lot of money.
Lawyer John Uustal told Insider: "He's entitled to 500,000 shares of stock via the contract, and entitled to 250,000 shares of stock if certain things happen—one of those yardsticks is that a certain number of units of products need to be sold, but unfortunately the contract doesn't specify which type of unit—is it a box, is it a drink? And there's no timeframe or deadline," Uustal explained.
Forbes reports those 250,000 shares in Celsius has now been translated into more than $27 million in damages for the musician.
During the lawsuit trial, Flo Rida says he wasn't informed of Celsius' financial achievements and was kept in the dark about when they hit certain targets.
Lawyers for the energy drink brand tried to claim the case had passed the statute of limitations, according to Forbes.
The deal for Flo Rida to be a brand ambassador ran from 2014 to 2018 and the lawsuit was launched in 2021.
CEO of Celsius Holdings, John Fieldly, also testified that the company's financial success was based off their hard work rather than Flo Rida's seconds-long promotion in his music video.
But the musician's lawyer, John Uustal, said: "[Dillard] loved the product, and it's been a very successful four-year relationship.
"There were some benchmarks. He was supposed to get stock when certain things happened.
"And there became a dispute about whether those benchmarks had been reached.
"So that's what this was about."
The Associated Press says the musician would still be inclined to take 1 per cent of the company's stock instead of the $82.6 million awarded to him.
He hasn't ruled out working with the company in the future.
"I'm still an owner in the company," Dillard said during the trial.
"And when you basically planted the seed for something that is successful, you can't help but have unconditional love."