Fat Joe Sues Ex-Hype Man for Extortion and Defamation Over 'Vile' Claims

Fat Joe is suing his former hype man for extortion and defamation after claiming that the rapper is a pedophile on social media. 

In the lawsuit documents obtained by Complex, Fat Joe — real name Joe Cartagena — claims that his former hypeman, Terrance Dixon, resorted to “countless posts on social media containing a torrent of wholly fabricated, grotesque, and scandalous allegations — accusing Cartagena of unspeakable acts such as pedophilia, statutory rape and sexual assault,” after failing to collect money he believed he was owed.

Fat Joe alleges that he worked together with Dixon (and compensated him handsomely) from 2006 to 2019. All these years later, the lawsuit alleges that Dixon believes the rapper blocked him from getting funding for a record label — ultimately pushing Dixon to approach Joe about compensation for working on some of the rapper’s songs. 

Dixon hired lawyer Tyrone Blackburn — who’s also a defendant — and is known for representing Diddy accuser Lil Rodney in another case. Blackburn was previously criticized by a judge in the Lil Rodney case for having a pattern of “salacious” filings.

Together, the Dixon and Blackburn sought payment from Fat Joe — going as far as sending a written demand for compensation as a “ghostwriter and uncredit vocalist” on Mar. 23. Less than a month later on Apr. 21, Dixon and Blackburn allegedly threatened to file a complaint with other accusations such as sex trafficking, statutory rape, fraud, and forced labor — which Fat Joe claims are false. 

Fat Joe alleges that Blackburn contacted him multiple times with threats via email, writing messages like, “We will report him to Homeland Security,” “playtime is over,” and the “case has just expanded into a Civil RICO case.” 

Dixon also posted accusations on Instagram alleging that Fat Joe was sleeping with an underage girl and referred to the rapper as a pedophile.

In a statement to TMZ, Blackburn claimed that Fat Joe’s lawsuit is a cover-up. “It won't work. Fat Joe has a lot of explaining to do,” said Blackburn.

Fat Joe also released a statement, saying, “These allegations are completely false and part of a criminal conspiracy orchestrated between a disgruntled former hype man and his attorney. These two individuals have been scheming together to extort me with their elaborate and ludicrous demands changing by the day. The relentless threats, harassment, and defamation I’ve endured as they peddle salacious lies are utterly deplorable. I’m taking legal action to expose their misconduct and I’m fully confident that the facts will reveal this is nothing more than a deceptive and desperate scam.”

Prior to this lawsuit, Fat Joe and Dixon had issues that stretch back to at least 2023 when the latter posted a lengthy message warning Joe of problems to come in his future.