A lawyer for Jay-Z says Securities and Exchange Commission demands for unlimited testimony from the rapper raises concern that an investigation of a company in his…
A lawyer for Jay-Z says Securities and Exchange Commission demands for unlimited testimony from the rapper raises concern that an investigation of a company in his client’s business orbit may be a “celebrity hunt.”
By requiring unlimited questioning, the SEC is placing unreasonable and burdensome demands on Jay-Z as he prepares for a 45-date global concert tour of his 4:44 album, attorney Alex Spiro argued in a Monday court filing.
Arguing that the Jay-Z, whose birth name is Shawn Carter, has already agreed to one day of questioning, and has little information about the investigation’s focus, Spiro asked a judge to deny the SEC’s legal demand for more.
« The SEC continues to insist on meeting Mr. Carter in person for an unlimited period of time, » Spiro wrote in a 15-page legal memorandum. « The upshot imposes unreasonable burdens on Mr. Carter and raises serious questions about whether this exercise has transcended any investigative purpose and crossed over into a celebrity hunt. »
In a declaration filed with the legal memo, Jay-Z stated that providing the demanded testimony at the SEC’s Washington, D. C. headquarters on May 11 would « impair the work of many individuals and entities who are preparing for the tour and will hinder my own work in preparation for the tour. »
SEC attorneys are scheduled to file a response on Tuesday, hours before a scheduled hearing on the matter in Manhattan federal court.
The investigation centers on potential securities law violations by Iconix Brand Group, a publicly-traded company that paid Jay-Z more than $200 million to acquire intangible assets associated with his Rocawear apparel brand, the SEC disclosed last week .
After the 2007 acquisition, Iconix and Jay-Z maintained publicly-disclosed partnerships related to Rocawear, the SEC said.
In March 2016, Iconix publicly announced a $169 million write-down of Rocawear’s value, and then disclosed an additional $34 million write-down of the brand in March, the SEC said.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Kevin McCoy on Twitter: @kmccoynyc
