Damon Dash, the brash co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and the catalyst behind some of hip-hop culture's most memorable cinematic moments could soon see his empire go under the gavel. According to court filings, "Dash" may be headed to the auction block along with other valuable assets as a California court weighs a motion to liquidate the director's intellectual Property as a result of a years-long legal standoff.
The genesis of this escalating drama is a bitter legal battle with a filmmaker, Josh Webber, over the 2019 film Dear Frank. At one point, Dash was set to guide the project before he was relieved of the role. Notwithstanding his ouster, he supposedly continued to praise the film as his own, prompting a copyright and defamation lawsuit culminating in a striking $805,000 judgment against him last year.
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Dash's continued disregard of the legal process, ignoring court deadlines, avoiding mediation, and refusing to submit documents demanded by his former wife stoked the flames of the legal drama. Things took an even sharper turn in 2025 when Dash appeared on the Earn Your Leisure podcast and blasted Webber, calling him a "d*head" and accusing him of stealing. Webber says the outburst sunk a lucrative $4 million directing job with Billy Bob Thornton, and the court slathered him with another multimillion-dollar defamation judgment.
In what could be a devastating blow to Dash's cultural footprint, Webber and his company, Muddy Water Pictures, request that the court lift the order of sale and seize. Auction Dash's assets, including the copyrights to State Property, Honor Up, and Mr. Untouchable, to cover unpaid debts.
Dash's companies, Poppington LLC and Dash Films Inc., are also being pursued. Webber says they have long ignored court orders to turn over financial records and other materials dating back to 2019.
The auction would deprive Dash of creative control and ownership of the films that established him as a streetwise storyteller, which rings especially true to State Property. This film became a cult classic in hip-hop circles for its raw portrayal of crime, power, and loyalty.
For admirers of Dash's work, the loss is a cinematic tragedy unfolding in real time. For the industry, it is a cautionary tale about what can happen when ego, legal neglect, and defiance meet in the courtroom.
It's up to the court to decide for now. Should State Property and the rest of Dash's catalog go up for auction, it would signal, at this point, one of the most seismic shifts in the legacy of one of hip-hop's most contentious moguls.
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