Nicki Minaj Faces Default Judgment Over $230,000 in Unpaid Legal Fees

Rapper Nicki Minaj is reportedly facing close to $230,000 in unpaid legal bills owed to the law firm that defended her in a copyright dispute, and according to the firm, she hasn't bothered responding to their lawsuit over the debt, potentially clearing the way for a judge to rule against her by default.

The bill traces back to a 2023 lawsuit in which composer Julius Johnson accused Minaj of lifting the beat for her 2014 song "I Lied." Attorneys from the national law firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani represented her throughout that case, which ultimately settled in late 2024 under confidential terms.

Now, roughly two years later, the same firm is suing Minaj directly, claiming she still owes $229,541 for the work performed during that defense. Gordon Rees filed its collection suit in March, and after months without any response from Minaj, a judge has signaled that a default judgment may soon follow.

According to the March complaint, filed in Los Angeles court, Gordon Rees alleges Minaj breached the retainer agreement she signed when she brought the firm on for the "I Lied" case. The firm included the actual contract as part of its filing, and it lays out standard billable-hour terms common across the legal industry, specifying that time would be tracked in tenths of an hour, billed monthly, and due upon receipt regardless of how the underlying case turned out.

That agreement also spelled out the firm's hourly rates, listing $650 an hour for senior partners and $425 for more junior associates, figures that are fairly typical for a national firm handling high-profile entertainment litigation, and notably lower than what some elite boutique firms charge for similar work.

The dispute is a reminder of the financial bind that celebrities can find themselves in when facing copyright claims. Under the U.S. legal system, defendants generally cover their own legal costs even after winning a case outright, which often pushes artists toward quick, modest settlements rather than risking a far larger legal bill by fighting a claim to the end.

Critics have long argued that this dynamic fuels a steady stream of what are sometimes called nuisance lawsuits, since plaintiffs know defendants have financial incentive to settle regardless of a case's merits.

Minaj's case followed roughly that pattern, settling about a year and a half after Johnson filed suit, following substantial legal back-and-forth between both sides. When the case was dismissed, the filing specified that each side would cover its own attorneys' fees and costs, an arrangement that, notably, doesn't apply to the current fight over Minaj's unpaid bill.

Gordon Rees points to a separate clause in its retainer agreement stating that if the firm ever had to sue a client to collect payment, the prevailing party in that collection case would be entitled to recover its attorneys' fees and costs as well, potentially tacking on even more to what Minaj owes.

This isn't the only debt-related legal trouble the rapper has dealt with recently. In January, a judge threatened to force the sale of her Los Angeles-area home before she ultimately paid a $500,000 judgment stemming from an incident in which a concert security guard was allegedly assaulted by her husband. Then in March, she was sued again, this time by a concert production company claiming she owed $275,000 in fees that she had failed to pay without any stated explanation.

Earlier this month, the firm filed a motion seeking a default judgment, essentially asking the court to treat the case as uncontested and award the firm its fees outright. A judge has since scheduled a hearing for September, where that request could be granted or denied.

Court records indicate Minaj has yet to respond to the Gordon Rees lawsuit at all.