Random House Inc.
is reportedly suing rap mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs for not paying
back a $300,000 advance on an autobiography the hip-hop star never completed.
The publisher alleges
that Combs and his Bad Boy company "kept the money they never rightfully
earned," according to papers filed Monday (Feb. 14) in a New York state
Supreme Court, the Associated Press reported.
In addition to
the advance returned, Random House is also seeking additional interest. The
publishing company claims that Combs signed a contract under their Ballantine
imprint in 1998 for the purpose of writing his memoirs, which were supposed
to be given to Random the following year.
"Random House
has seldom resorted to a legal course of action with its prospective authors
who don’t write the books we have contracted for, but Mr. Sean Combs has left
us no choice," the publisher said in a statement. "We now have waited
for over five years and have received neither the manuscript nor the return
of the money we advanced Mr. Combs."
Combs’ publicist,
Rob Shuter, cites the lawsuit as a simple misunderstanding between the two parties.
Shuter said Bad Boy hopes to settle the matter without resorting to legal proceedings.
"We anticipate that this will be resolved quickly," said Shuter.
After signing with
Random House in 1998, Combs arranged to work with Mikal Gilmore, a contributing
editor to Rolling Stone, according to court papers.
As Combs’ deadline
to complete the manuscript by Dec. 15, 1999 passed, papers state that Random
House began notifying the hip-hop impresario,
informing him that he had breached the contract and requesting the money back.
Court papers further
claim that the publisher sent numerous follow-up letters throughout the years.
