Fat Joe is calling on a federal judge to penalize attorney Tyrone Blackburn, citing a recent ruling tied to Diddy that fined the lawyer for once again using unverified AI-generated legal citations in court filings.
The Bronx rapper’s demand comes amid his ongoing $20 million defamation lawsuit against Terrance “T.A.” Dixon and Blackburn, Dixon’s attorney. Joe’s legal team accuses Blackburn of repeatedly submitting court documents containing fabricated or distorted legal citations.
Joe’s attorneys pointed to a November ruling in a separate case involving April Gardner, who sued Combs.
Gardner claims Combs raped her in 1991 after luring her to his New York apartment, drugging her and sexually assaulting her. She also alleges he used threats and influence to silence her. As reported by AllHipHop, the lawsuit centers on alleged sexual violence during Combs’ early rise in the music business.
Blackburn, who represents Gardner, came under scrutiny in that case after citing a fabricated court decision. The judge confirmed the case does not exist and said the error stemmed from Blackburn’s use of generative AI without proper fact-checking.
Despite being alerted to the issue, Blackburn failed to correct the filing and that misstep led to sanctions. The court ordered Blackburn to cough up $6,000, to inform his client of the penalty, and to report the sanction to legal authorities in New York and New Jersey.
Now, Fat Joe’s lawyers argued that Blackburn’s conduct in the Gardner case mirrors his actions in Joe’s lawsuit “almost perfectly.”
The Bronx rapper’s attorneys also highlighted Blackburn’s prior discipline in another case involving defamation claims tied to T.D. Jakes. In that matter, Blackburn was also sanctioned and fined for using AI-generated slop.
Joe’s team says the pattern is troubling, especially given the gravity of the claims in the current defamation case. Dixon claims Fat Joe forced him into thousands of sex acts and other misconduct tied to his past business dealings with Joe, which the rapper flatly denies.
Fat Joe is urging the court to impose sanctions strong enough to prevent what he calls “repeat misconduct” from Tyrone Blackburn.