Hip Hop mogul Jay Z heaved a sigh of relief as he left a Manhattan courthouse on Wednesday afternoon smiling ear-to-ear after a judge ruled that he didn’t breach his contract in his endorsement deal with Parlux Fragrances which partnered with the rapper in 2013 to launch its “Gold Jay-Z” cologne.
Hova will not have to dig into his piggybank to pay $68 million dollars to the perfume company for failing to promote the fragrance. At the end of the trial that spanned nearly a month the jury heard arguments from Jay-Z’s attorney who asked “why on earth” Jigga would have put his name on a product that he wanted to fail.
On Wednesday Justice Andrew Borrok told an attorney for Parlux that “You failed to prove your case, they failed to prove their case.”
The 2016 lawsuit was filed by the fragrance company Parlux after accusing Jigga of failing to promote his product Gold Jay Z.
The company accused the star of costing them millions for breaching their 2012 contract by not promoting his fragrance at the launch of the product in November 2013.
After the jury’s verdict in a statement to Billboard, Jay-Z said, “I’d like to express my gratitude to the jury, especially during these difficult times.”
Jay-Z denied all accusations leveled against him by the company saying he fulfilled his obligations under the agreement despite numerous missteps from Parlux that threatened to damage his personal brand.
After being questioned by the company’s lawyer, Jay-Z revealed he did not read the contract.
“I’m not a lawyer. All I can say is I have creative control over what I do with myself and my body. No, I did not read the contract.”
In a statement Parlux attorney Anthony J. Viola, said Jay-Z had “thrown sand in the gears of what Parlux was trying to do” when they disagreed over how to promote the product. He also made claims that Jay-Z and his company destroyed evidence by deleting certain emails and asked the jury to award a total of $67.6 million in damages.
In a separate statement to Billboard, Parlux said that “believes it presented a strong case and is disappointed that the jury rendered a verdict today finding that neither side proved breach by the other.” The company said it “plans to pursue all legal options available to it.”
