Marion “Suge” Knight has come forward to speak about his recent decision to file for protection under federal bankruptcy laws.
Knight’s new counsel, Larry Nagelberg and Laurence Strick, said Knight and Death Row Records sought protection because of a $107 million default judgment awarded to Lydia Harris, ex-wife of imprisoned drug boss Michael “Harry-O” Harris.
Harris and Knight have publicly feuded over the label since 1997, the year Harris went public and claimed he invested $1.5 million in Death Row Records, home to Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound and others.
Knight missed numerous court hearings to disclose his assets, the most recent being Saturday (April 1).
A judge had warned Death Row Records would be put into receivership if Knight missed Saturday’s hearing.
Yesterday (April 4), Los Angeles Superior Court judge Ronald Sohigian found Knight innocent of contempt of court at a hearing regarding the bankruptcy filing.
“For the last few years there’s been a stigma attached to Death Row,” Knight told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “People like the Harris’s have been coming out of the woodwork and it’s been like a dark cloud hanging over me. I’ve decided that I’m serving Death Row its last meal. I’m setting a new table.”
Knight’s attorneys also stated that they plan on filing a motion against the Harris’s and their attorneys for undisclosed violations of federal bankruptcy law.