NEW YORK - Rapper Remy Ma is being sued for US$20 million by the woman she is suspected of shooting in a dispute over money.
Makeda Barnes-Joseph was shot twice in the abdomen on July 14, after leaving a party in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. Authorities said the shooting occurred after Remy Ma, whose real name is Remy Smith, accused Barnes-Joseph of taking $2,000 that was missing from her purse.
The lawsuit says the shooting left her disabled, anxious and depressed. The suit also named as defendants Universal Music Group, and individuals who play important roles in Remy Ma's career, because they should have known she "had a history of unlawful, violent and anti-social behavior."
The defendants "encouraged her to engage in a pattern of harassment, threats, intimidation, physical violence and illegal acts which were designed and calculated by these defendants to enhance, market and promote the persona of 'Remy Ma,'" according to the suit.
A spokeswoman for Universal Music Group in Manhattan did not immediately return a call for comment Friday.
Barnes-Joseph, a Bronx resident hospitalized for more than two weeks after the shooting, said in the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that she was leaving a birthday party for a friend when Remy Ma, who also attended the party, approached her car with a handgun.
According to the lawsuit dated Thursday, the 26-year-old rapper opened the passenger door of Barnes-Joseph's car, pointed a gun at her and demanded that Barnes-Joseph dump the contents of her pocketbook.
When she did not release it, Barnes-Joseph was shot in the stomach and abdomen by the rapper, who then searched the pocketbook while Barnes-Joseph bled, the lawsuit said. Finding nothing, she tossed the purse and contents aside and left without summoning medical assistance, the suit said.
Remy Ma has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges filed in connection with the shooting.
Her lawyer, Ivan Fisher, said the lawsuit "appears to be a publicity stunt consistent with the way Ms. Barnes and her lawyer have, together with their publicist, been attempting to claim 15 minutes of fame on account of a terrible accident."
Fisher has said that since her arrest, Remy Ma has been unable to get sufficient U.S. bookings, and a proposed recording contract has been put on hold. She is free on $250,000 bail.
As she recovered, Barnes-Joseph had to undergo surgery and blood transfusions and remains disabled, fearful, anxious and depressed and still unable to return to work, the lawsuit said.
Because her injuries will require continuing medical treatment, Barnes-Joseph is entitled to at least $20 million in damages, the lawsuit said.
Smith was nominated for a Grammy as part of the Terror Squad for the 2004 summer smash "Lean Back." Besides her solo career, Remy Ma has appeared on recordings with performers Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Eminem and R. Kelly, her Web site says.
