Damon Dash Sued Again By Photographer Who Claims He Owes Her Nearly $400 Million

Damon Dash Sued Again By Photographer Who Claims He Owes Her Nearly $400 Million

Damon Dash is facing yet another lawsuit.

In court documents obtained by HipHopDX, photographer Monique Bunn (via her attorney Christopher Brown) asked the court to reopen her case against the entrepreneur and record executive over photos she had taken. In a 285-page filing, Bunn claimed the jury in her initial case didn’t understand the gravity of the damages Damon Dash allegedly caused.

Damon Dash

She alleged that Damon Dash admitted to not adequately paying her after using photographs for purposes other than promotional. Brown wrote,

“The evidence at trial – which was uncontroverted – established that each photo was worth $1,500, which should have resulted in a verdict for at least $384,750,000.”

Added the attorney:

“It is well known that professional photographers earn much of their income through licensing their portfolio of photographs, and Defendants’ actions destroyed Ms. Bunn’s economic prospects. The jury ignored the valuation evidence and awarded zero to Ms. Bunn.”

Brown quipped that it’s “impossible” to understand how a

“jury could conclude that a professional photographer’s portfolio of thousands of photos, as well as photography equipment, could be worth zero. Especially when the Plaintiff and the Defendants both testify that the damages are in the millions. A new trial is warranted under these circumstances.”

Damon Dash

Dash and Bunn have a controversial history in the courtroom. In 2023, Dash was cleared in Bunn’s sexual battery claim against him, where she alleged that he sexually assaulted her in his home. Bunn said the alleged incident happened in 2019 after Dash hired her to shoot photos for his fashion line Poppington. She alleged in court docs that on the first night of shooting, Dash came into his daughter’s room, where Bunn was sleeping, and allegedly groped her.

She also accused Dash of stealing 100,000 photos she took of hip-hop artists and defaming her afterward. She had sued for $50 million for the assault claim, plus $1,500 for each photo, totaling $250 million in damages.

Bunn’s revived lawsuit comes after a judge ordered Dash to turn over his Roc-A-Fella shares after he didn’t pay an $800,000 judgment in a movie producer’s lawsuit. That claim also dates back to 2019, when filmmaker Josh Webber and Muddy Water Productions, sued Dash for copyright infringement and defamation. They claimed that Dash was brought on to co-direct the urban thriller ‘Dear Frank’ (which stars Claudia Jordan, Columbus Short, and Brian J. White) but was later fired after allegedly showing up to the set under the influence.

Webber continued to shop the project to multiple networks like BET under the title The List. The plaintiffs won in 2022,with Dash owing $155,000 in punitive damages to Muddy Water Productions and $650,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to Webber.

After Dash allegedly failed to pay, a judge ordered him to turn over his one-third shares. Fellow founders Kareem “Biggs” Burke and Jay-Z supposedly objected to the action, mentioning the company’s bylaws prohibit sell-offs without approval from the board.

What are your thoughts on the photographer’s latest claims? Tell us in the comments.