(AllHipHop News) “The Wire” star Michael K. Williams has accused a former friend of attempting to extort $450,000 from him.
The actor, who played Baltimore tough guy Omar Little in the acclaimed TV crime drama, was sued by his former associate Michael Kimbrew last year.
Kimbrew claims that in 2010 the 51-year-old star signed a deal allowing him to become a partner in his production company, entitling him to 20% of Williams’ earnings.
Williams has now filed court documents demanding the lawsuit against him be dismissed, according to The Blast.
In the legal papers, Williams accuses his ex-pal of filing the suit in a bid “to exploit his one-time friendship.”
The filing reads: “Kimbrew is a one-time driver and ‘hanger-on’ of Williams, who, having had his demands for money repeatedly rejected by Williams, now seeks to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from Williams (by filing the complaint).”
The actor has accused his former associate of threatening his accountant and menacing him with the prospect of a “long drawn out ugly legal battle in the media and in the court system” if he failed to pay up.
In his original complaint, Kimbrew alleged that Williams’ money woes left him destitute after “The Wire” ended in 2008.
He claimed the actor would frequently stay on his couch and then signed the deal that made him a partner in the star’s production company.
He alleges he is owed $450,000, as his percentage of his former friend’s $2.5 million earnings from subsequent projects.
The case is still ongoing.