Suge Knight says that Eazy-E‘s widow possibly cost his estate a billion dollars by relinquishing rights to a percentage of Dr. Dre’s future earnings.
During the latest episode of his Collect Call podcast, which premiered Sunday (Nov. 19), the incarcerated executive claims that he facilitated a deal with the late rap icon prior to his death. The agreement would ensure him profits from Dr. Dre for the duration of the producer’s career. According to Knight, the deal could’ve potentially netted the Wright family a 10-figure sum.
“I did a deal for [Eazy],” the Death Row Records founder told Collect Call cohost Dave Mays. “He gets a dollar off of anything that Dre does. In other words, if he do a movie, if he do a beat, if he promote some type of merchandise. If he do a commercial, if he produce… Off of his part, [Eazy] gets a dollar.”
Rapper Eazy-E (aka Eric Lynn Wright) appears in a portrait taken on June 27, 1991 in New York City.
However, he says that Tomica Woods-Wright, whom Eazy wed in 1995, made the decision to sign off on a deal with Interscope Records that terminated the agreement. The notorious record mogul said that Eazy’s widow agreed to the request after Interscope promised to do business with her and Ruthless Records in the future, which Knight points out never materialized.
“Tomica met with Interscope. Interscope said, ‘Hey, why you want to get a dollar off of everything Dre does? Me and you could do business later on. Sign off and just let Dre out of it. We’re gonna do business later,’” the 58-year-old recalled. “She signed off. They ain’t did no business with that bi**h later. And guess what? That f**ked Eazy’s kids, his momma, at the time his father was still living. It’s f**ked his family.”
Producer Tomica Woods-Wright attends the 2016 ABFF Awards: A Celebration Of Hollywood at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 21, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California.
The founder of Ruthless Records — which launched the careers of N.W.A., Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, The D.O.C., J.J. Fad, Michel’le, himself, and more — Eazy-E passed away on March 26, 1995, as a result of HIV/AIDS-related complications. He was 30 years old at the time of his passing.
Elsewhere during the podcast, Knight spoke on Tupac Shakur, his first experience with Hip-Hop, and more.
Watch Episode Three of Suge Knight’s Collect Call podcast below.