Rapper 2 Chainz claims Hollywood pot shop swindled him out of $1.5m in investment scam
Rapper Tauheed Epps, better known as 2 Chainz, is suing a Los Angeles cannabis company over an investment deal gone wrong.
The rapper invested $1.5 million in the company in 2021, according to a lawsuit filed last week in California by Antimatter Holdings, an investment firm through which Epps made the deal. However, the deal quickly fell through, leaving Epps and his company without their money, according to the suit.
The investment company is seeking $10.65m in damages.
Epps invested in Pineapple Express, a Hollywood dispensary, with the founders telling the rapper that the store would open by April 2021, the filing stated. However, the opening was delayed nearly a year to March 2022.
Epps’ agreement indicated he could pull out of the deal for 110 percent of his original investment if he gave a month’s notice, according to the lawsuit. In May 2022, Epps used this clause to pull out of the deal.
However, the lawsuit claims that Epps and the investment company never got their money back.
In December 2022, Epps texted executive, Vincent Zadeh, to ask about his money, according to the lawsuit. Zadeh told the rapper their company was “no longer honoring” his investment deal with the dispensary, the lawsuit claims.
Matthew Feinstein, co-founder of Pineapple Express and a defendant in the lawsuit, told The Independent that the company “didn’t have the funds available” in May 2022 but said they “would get back to [Epps] when there were enough funds available to honor his request.”
Feinstein added: “Anything else mentioned in the complaint is disputed and the matter will proceed to arbitration and be resolved there because there is an arbitration provision within the contract he signed which bars the filing of a lawsuit.”
Zadeh’s attorney, Andrew Holmes, also dismissed the allegations.
“Opportunistic plaintiff lawyers are just using it as a means to sensationalize what is actually a non-issue,” Holmes said in a statement shared with The Independent.
This isn’t the first time Zadeh has run into trouble. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against him in 2017, according to the lawsuit, and as a result he agreed to pay $12m in penalties.
The Independent has contacted Antimatter Holdings’ attorney for comment.
Epps, 46, is an award-winning music star whose latest album, “Welcome 2 Collegrove,” was a collaboration with fellow rapper Lil Wayne and released in 2023. His song “No Problem,” performed alongside Chance the Rapper, won Best Rap Performance at the 2017 Grammy awards.