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Tauheed K. Epps, a.k.a. 2 Chainz, has sued a cannabis dispensary based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, after being duped in an alleged investment scam. On Friday, August 9, 2024, SFGate, citing Law360.com, reported that the rapper filed a lawsuit against Pineapple Express in Los Angeles Superior Court.
According to the lawsuit filed by Antimatter Holdings, an investment LLC representing Epps, Pineapple Express scammed him of the $1.5 million he invested in opening the dispensary in 2021. However, the company allegedly failed to uphold its end of the bargain, with Epps and Antimatter Holdings losing their money.
According to a report by the Independent, the investment company is seeking $10.65 million in damages.
2 Chainz's lawsuit claimed Snoop Dogg’s tour manager, Damien Roderick, introduced him to the cannabis company
The dispensary in question, Pineapple Express, was run by two companies: Pineapple Ventures, Inc., and PNPLXPRESS, Inc. In the suit, Antimatter Holding claimed that Snoop Dogg’s tour manager, Damien Roderick, introduced the Atlanta rapper to the founders of the cannabis company.
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The dispensary owners assured 2 Chainz that the shop would be open for business starting in April 2021. However, delays pushed its opening by almost a year. According to the suit, when the rapper made the investment, the company offered him monthly dividends and included a clause allowing him to recall 110% of his investment with 30 days' notice.
When Antimatter Holdings asked for their funds back in May 2022, the company never returned the rapper's money. When 2 Chainz personally texted Vincent Zadeh, the co-founder of Pineapple Express, in December 2022, the latter stated that they were no longer honoring the deal as the dispensary had shut down.
This is not the first time Zadeh and the multiple companies related to Pineapple Express have been sued. Per the Los Angeles Business Journal, other investors and business partners have filed separate lawsuits, claiming they have not seen the dividends or income promised. One even stated the company never filed its income tax and owed about $1.69 million in back taxes.
Pineapple Express has since closed, but co-founder Matthew Feinstein told SFGate that they plan to reopen the shop sometime in September. Feinstein, in a written statement, told SFGate that claims made in 2 Chainz's lawsuit, including that Epps is owed money, were false. He added that they would resolve the matter through arbitration.
In a separate statement made to the Independent, Matthew said that in May 2022, the company "didn’t have the funds available." However, at the time, they told the rapper that they "would get back when there were enough funds available to honor his request." He explained:
"Anything else mentioned in the complaint is disputed and the matter will proceed to arbitration and be resolved there because there is an arbitration provision within the contract he signed which bars the filing of a lawsuit."
Zadeh's lawyer, Andrew Holmes, dismissed the allegations, calling them a "non-issue" that "opportunistic plaintiff lawyers" were "sensationalizing."
2 Chainz or his representatives have not publicly released an official statement about the development.
