Tha Lawsuit III.

By Alison Willmore on 04/07/2009

"The Carter," Adam Bhala Lough's unexpectedly artful documentary about Lil Wayne that premiered at Sundance earlier this year, is now the source of a lawsuit from the wee multi-platinum rapper, who's suing the film's production company for "Breach of Contract, Fraud by Intentional Misrepresentation, Constructive Fraud and Invasion of Privacy," among others, according to AllHipHop.com:

Wayne and his company signed an agreement which stipulated that Weezy would make himself available for the 90-minute documentary and make photos and videos from his personal archives available to the producers. In exchange he was to be allowed to review "various scenes of the Picture and have approval rights as to the final cut of the picture." The agreement went on to say, specifically, that Wayne would be given the "sole right of final approval" of any scenes that portrayed his actions or activities as criminal in nature.

In early December 2008...copies were submitted to Lil' Wayne's manager, who rejected the footage, asking that certain questionable content, which management felt painted the artist in a negative light, be removed from the film. Wayne's manager also went on to demand, in writing, that the film would not be showcased at Sundance, unless the scenes in question were removed.

Of course, it was showcased, and they weren't removed, and now "Wayne and Young Money Entertainment are seeking an injunction preventing the further distribution of The Carter, which they believe would cause irreparable damage to Wayne's reputation and career."

What made "The Carter" so interesting, and what likely got it into Sundance, was the way in which it was such an unvarnished portrait of Wayne, one that was hardly warts-and-all, but that was a hypnotic mix of guarded and accessible. Because who'd want a glossy 90-minute package of self-promotion from an already plenty famous performer? While this leaves the future of the film looking pretty grim, if it somehow escapes the courts unscathed, a bit of "THE FILM LIL WAYNE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO SEE" messaging couldn't hurt it at the box office.

Should you care, Radar has the 26-page lawsuit here as a PDF.

+ Lil Wayne Sues QD3 Over Documentary; Drama Over Mixtapes In Lawsuits (AllHipHop.com)