J Prince Donates to Charity, Sues Apple & BET

Add to Favorites

|

Print Article

|

News RSS Feed

Houston music mogul J. Prince is in the giving spirit as he recently donated $100,000 to a local Houston charitable organization.

Prince, who is the owner of Rap-A-Lot Records, made the sizable donation to the Bread Of Life Inc.'s Meals That Heal program, a non-profit organization which helps to feed needy and displaced families in the Houston area. In honor of Prince's donation, the organization renamed the facility "J. Prince Kitchen," which held a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday December 17.

The newly renamed location will also play host to a celebrity chef night on each 3rd Monday of the month. The event will feature culinary artists from across the Houston area.

In related news, the CEO recently filed a lawsuit against Apple, BET and Viacom for defamation, according to Information Week. The suit claims that Apple made available over its iTunes download service an episode of the BET series "American Gangster" that falsely portrays him as a murderer. The lawsuit names Viacom and BET as defendants in the case as well, as they produced and aired the program.

Prince and one of his employees, Thomas Randle, are claiming that their pictures were shown on promotional spots for "American Gangster" with the word "murderers" stamped over the photos. The two men also allege that an episode of the show that aired on October 10 falsely linked them to the Chicago street gang, The Gangster Disciples. Prince says that the show has damaged a reputation that he says he built through positive ventures in the Houston area and is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

"Neither Mr. Prince nor Mr. Randle has ever been convicted of any felony offenses, let alone murder," an attorney for Prince and Randle states in court papers filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Houston.

None of the defendants in the case, including Apple, have yet to file a formal response.