Rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight filed for bankruptcy this week to avoid losing control of his Death Row Records label in a $107 million civil court judgment, his lawyers said.
Knight, who co-founded Death Row in the early 1990s and helped launch the careers of the late Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg has failed to make good on a March judgment to pay Lydia Harris, who claimed Knight cheated her out of a 50 percent stake in the music label.
Harris’s attorneys have accused Knight of “playing games” to avoid payment to their client.
Two weeks ago, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge said he would appoint a court officer, called a receiver, to take control of Knight’s assets, including Death Row, and directed Knight to disclose his finances in a debtor’s exam set for April 1.
