Busta Rhymes Settles $100K Lawsuit

Busta Rhymes settled a $100,000 lawsuit yesterday (May 22) which accused the rapper and his bodyguard of assaulting a fan who asked for an autograph.

Melvin Smith won a default judgment against Rhymes, claiming that the superstar rapper and his bodyguard Troy Green assaulted him when he asked Rhymes for an autograph in a sandwich shop in Manhattan.

Smith, 37, said that he needed four stitches to close a laceration over his eye.

In an affidavit, Rhymes said he missed court dates pertaining to the lawsuit because the legal papers were sent to the address of his estranged ex-girlfriend.

Copies of the lawsuit were mistakenly sent to a Baldwin, Long Island home, which is the address registered for one of Rhymes' five vehicles.

"I was required by court order "to provide this home for the mother of my three children, from whom I am estranged and with whom I have been embroiled in child-custody proceedings for over two years," Rhymes said in an affidavit.

Rhymes also denied assaulting Smith, who works as handyman.

Smith said he hasn't been able to work because of neck and back injuries sustained as a result of the attack.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed and Busta Rhymes' attorney Scott Leemon declined to comment when contacted by AllHipHop.com.