After a five-day trial, a jury has found in favor of DaBaby (Jonathan Kirk), who was facing a $6 million federal lawsuit accusing him of battery, breach of contract, and defamation, according to documents viewed by Pitchfork. In Kirk’s countersuit, plaintiffs Kenneth Carey and Steve Anyadike were found to be liable for invasion of privacy and unauthorized use of name or likeness.
In January 2020, Kirk was arrested and questioned by police in Miami about an alleged robbery; he was found to have an outstanding warrant in Texas, spent the night at Miami’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, and was released the next day. A month later, Carey, a concert promoter, filed a lawsuit claiming Kirk breached his contract to perform, and, along with his associates, beat and robbed him. TMZ published a video depicting a portion of the incident. The charges were dropped by police in March.
That same month, Kirk was sued for battery after an unrelated incident in Tampa, Florida, in which a woman claimed he struck a woman, injuring her head and face. In June 2021, Kirk was arrested in Beverly Hills and charged with possession of a loaded and concealed firearm. In April 2022, he was charged with felony battery after an incident in December 2020 in which he allegedly hit the owner of a property he had rented to shoot a music video. Both DaBaby and Roddy Ricch were sued earlier this month by a Florida producer who claims the pair ripped off his song for their hit “Rockstar.”
