Cam’ron and J. Cole have reached a settlement in principle, with both sides filing a notice today asking Judge Loretta A. Preska to issue a conditional order of dismissal in the Southern District of New York.
Cam’ron’s legal team and Cole’s attorneys jointly submitted the paperwork on May 26, giving themselves 30 days to finalize the settlement terms and canceling the pretrial conference that had been set for May 28.
The dispute started when Cam alleged that their “Ready ’24” collaboration, recorded at Electric Lady Studios in June 2022, came with a verbal understanding that Cole would return the favor with a feature or an “It Is What It Is” appearance, which never materialized.
When Cole dropped the track on his 2024 album, Might Delete Later, without delivering, Cam filed a $500,000 lawsuit demanding co-author credit as a performer and a royalty audit, as Rolling Stone first reported when the complaint was filed in federal court.
Cole’s team pushed back in February, with attorney Christine Lepera arguing that Cam had contributed voluntarily and without conditions attached, and that the financial demands only surfaced after the song was already out.
Lepera called the fee Cam was seeking “an excessive fee inconsistent with industry standards,” and Cole’s motion asked the judge to dismiss the case with prejudice and deny Cam’s co-author claims entirely.
The real resolution was less about today’s paperwork than that March moment when Cole walked onto Cam’s “Talk With Flee” set, and the two actually sat down on camera to hash it all out.
Cole admitted the lawsuit genuinely stung when it first landed, telling Cam on the show: “I was hurt, almost disappointed, because I got so much respect for you, and I look at you like, I know you are a stand-up person.”
Cam made it plain on the show that the lawsuit was never headed for trial and was just a way to get Cole’s attention after years of delays and broken “February” promises.
Both parties have 30 days from the court’s order to finalize the settlement, with the option to seek an extension for good cause.