A court has ruled that chart-topping rapper DMX must pay a over $200,000 to a company that produced and marketed his dog clothing line, Boomer 129.
A deal between DMX, born Earl Simmons, and Amusing Diversions Inc. went sour when DMX failed to promote the Boomer 129 clothing line, which included dog caps, scarves, raincoats and “bomber” jackets, according to Amusing’s lawsuit.
On July 25, a judge ordered DMX to pay a $242,000 default judgment, because the rapper repeatedly ignored orders to appear in court surrounding the lawsuit.
The court also found that DMX had promoted competitors products, causing substantial damage to Amusing’s Boomer 129 brand.
The lawsuit was originally filed in June of 2004.
Amusing also took issues with DMX, claiming the rapper concealed his 13-counts of animal cruelty charges before he signed the deal in 2002.
According to court documents, Amusing had trouble getting the Boomer 129 clothing line into pet stores because of the animal cruelty charges, which stemmed from a 1999 incident, when police searched DMX’s Teaneck New Jersey home, after finding his wife’s purse near the scene of a shooting involving his uncle.
Police found 13 pitbulls in DMX’s house, as well as a loaded 9mm handgun, hollow-nosed bullets and six used glass cocaine smoking pipes.
DMX was eventually ordered to pay $15,000 to the Bergen County chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and he allowed the organization to use his image and likeness on public service announcements regarding animal cruelty.
Ironically, $6,000 of the $15,000 DMX donated was stolen by Robert Nesoff, the former director of a New Jersey SPCA.
In June of 2005, Nesoff was fired from his position, after admitting that he wrote checks against the fund for his personal use.
Despite his recent legal troubles, DMX is continuing to stay busy as he ventures into the realm of fashion.
DMX is still attempting to break into the fashion market.
The rapper is prepping the launch of his DMX Authentic and Earl Simmons Signature Collection clothing lines, which were announced in Feb. 2007.