The court file in Nicki Minaj’s production lawsuit already reads like a tabloid spread, complete with a $9,500 a night suite and a minibar tab listing Pringles and M&M’s Peanuts.
Now her own legal team wants out. In an October 23 filing, attorney Bruce W. Bieber asked a New York court to let his firm withdraw, saying the relationship with the rapper had broken down beyond repair.
Bieber’s firm, Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, represents both Minaj and Pink Friday Productions LLC in the case brought by 24/7 Productions.
The filing said “irreconcilable differences have arisen” over how the case was being handled. It added that the two sides had been unable to agree on litigation strategy and that “there has also been a breakdown in communication.”
The firm didn’t spell out what went wrong behind closed doors. Citing attorney and client confidentiality, it offered to share more detail privately with the judge for in camera review if the court asked for it.
The underlying fight is over $275,149.62. 24/7 Productions sued in March over Minaj’s December 2023 Jingle Ball shows in Chicago and Atlanta, plus New York events promoting Pink Friday 2. The production company says it fronted a long list of costs and never got paid back.
The hotel bills are where things get specific. The Langham New York tab came to $103,730, covering a seven night stay in a suite priced at $9,500 per night, with Minaj checked in under the alias Tori Spaulding.
That account also paid for four other rooms used by her team, a $1,939.66 private kitchen dinner on December 12, room deliveries and minibar snacks including Evian water and Coca-Cola, according to AllHipHop’s reporting on the receipts.
A separate Four Seasons stay in Fort Lauderdale added another $25,197.85. That bill included a $3,800 nightly suite and rooms for security and a stylist.
Minaj’s side tells a very different story. In a July 31 filing, Pink Friday Productions said it had already paid the debt, and her lawyers described the hospitality costs as approved.
They also argued that being a member of Pink Friday Productions LLC doesn’t make Minaj personally liable for the company’s obligations, which goes to the heart of 24/7’s attempt to pin the bill on her directly.
This isn’t the first time a lawyer has tried to step away from one of her cases this year.
In February, TMZ reported that attorney Matthew Abbott sought to leave her defense in a separate $10 million lawsuit brought by Tameer Peak. Peak dropped that case in June, before this latest split surfaced.
Bieber is asking the court to pause things so Minaj can find replacement counsel. “Granting this application will not unduly prejudice Plaintiff,” the filing argued, saying any delay could be handled with a reasonable stay.
The firm also wants permission to serve the withdrawal papers to her last known email address and by overnight mail, leaving the judge to decide what happens next and who will be standing beside Minaj when it does.
