A Manhattan judge tossed a $16 million lawsuit against rappers Chris Brown and Drake by an entertainment company that claimed the duo’s fight over Rihanna at the WiP club last summer damaged its reputation because bar brawls are widespread in the Big Apple.
“Unfortunately brawls in bars in nightclubs are commonplace,” Judge Anil Singh wrote in the Manhattan Supreme Court decision. Entertainment Enterprises, which holds the trademark on WiP’s sister club Greenhouse outside of New York, brought the suit last August.
The two clubs have the same owners and are located at the same 150 Varick St address, but are separate legal entities.
Because of the distinction, Judge Singh, said in a May hearing that Greenhouse’s suit was without merit.
“Whatever happened in the other nightclub, didn’t happen in your nightclub,” Judge Singh told attorneys for the Soho hotspot. “There was no damage to your property that you allege. There was no injury to patrons in your club,” he said.
Singh quipped that “In fact, [brawls] have occurred in the past in Greenhouse.”
The promotion company charged that bad press from the bottle-service brawl sank a $4 million deal to license the Greenhouse name.
Chris Brown’s legal team had called the suit frivolous.
Andrew Miltenberg, Entertainment Enterprises’ attorney, said he was “fundamentally unhappy with the judge’s decision.” His client is mulling a possible appeal.