Ex-Fugees member Pras Michel is prepping a defamation lawsuit against several entities, including Rolling Stone, 50 Cent, and Kyrie Irving.
Attorneys for Pras sent letters to representatives of the three entities, one of which was obtained by The Los Angeles Times. The letters focused on social media posts on Instagram and Twitter and a Rolling Stone article that allegedly included defamatory comments about the rapper, including ‘rat,’ ‘government informant,’ and ‘FBI informant.’
“It is and was absolutely and demonstrably false for You to publish that Michel was a ‘government informant,’” the letter sent to Rolling Stone reads, according to the LA Times. “Labeling a hip-hop artist such as Michel, the reputation of whom is dependent upon ‘street credibility’ and not being a ‘snitch,’ a ‘government informant’ most certainly tends to subject said hip-hop artist to hatred, distrust, ridicule, contempt, and/or disgrace, along with injury to their trade or profession.”
The allegations themselves stem from testimony that Pras Michel gave during a criminal trial in April 2023. Michel was convicted on various charges tied to a foreign influence scheme. “I took it upon myself to report because I thought the FBI should know,” Michel testified on the stand, referring to his reason for contacting the government during the scheme.
Upon covering that trial, Rolling Stone referred to the rapper as an “informal FBI informant.” The article was later edited to read that Michel “voluntarily met with the FBI,” removing the loaded informant language.
50 Cent is named in the suit for sharing a screenshot of a hip-hop blog post with a headline calling Pras Michel an FBI informant. “I knew this fool was a rat! I’m glad I never f**ked with this guy,” the captioned Instagram post read. The post was later deleted. Kyrie Irving made the same mistake, posting a headline that reads “A whole FBI informant was in the Fugees for that long??” in reference to the rapper and his testimony.