Nelly Demands Sanctions After “Frivolous” St. Lunatics Lawsuit Dropped

Nelly has fired back in court after St. Lunatics member Ali Jones dropped a copyright lawsuit over songwriting credits from Country Grammar, demanding sanctions for what his legal team called a “frivolous campaign.”

Ali Jones, the final St. Lunatics member still pursuing legal action against Nelly, quietly pulled the plug on his lawsuit on Thursday (April 10) without offering any explanation or confirming a settlement, per Digital Music News.

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Initially filed in 2023, the suit accused Nelly of failing to appropriately credit and compensate his longtime collaborators for their work on the rapper’s 2000 breakout album Country Grammar.

Jones had alleged that Nelly, born Cornell Haynes Jr., “had no intention of providing the plaintiffs with any such credit or recognition” despite promises made to the group.

However, the legal effort quickly lost momentum after fellow St. Lunatics members Murphy Lee, Kyjuan and City Spud publicly distanced themselves from the case, saying they never approved any legal filings.

Now, Nelly is asking the court to hold Jones and his attorneys accountable for what his legal team described as a wasteful and meritless legal stunt.

“Plaintiff’s counsel succeeded in its frivolous campaign aimed at forcing [Nelly] to spend money defending Plaintiff’s ridiculous time-barred claims,” Nelly’s attorneys wrote in a court filing. “The Court is respectfully requested to retain jurisdiction and set a briefing and hearing schedule [for potential sanctions].”

In his lawsuit, Jones claimed he and other St. Lunatics members were denied proper credit and royalties for their creative input on Country Grammar, which went on to sell over 10 million copies and launch Nelly into Hip-Hop superstardom.

Despite the case being dismissed, Nelly’s legal team is pushing for the court to impose financial penalties on Jones and his legal representatives, citing the costs incurred during the defense.