A former security staffer for Lil Wayne filed a lawsuit Friday claiming the Grammy-winning musician threatened him with a semiautomatic rifle and punched him in the head during an incident at the rapper’s residence in Hidden Hills, Calif., two years ago.
In the seven-page complaint obtained by Rolling Stone, plaintiff Carlos Christian alleges Lil Wayne, whose legal name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., pointed the firearm directly at him “as a threat,” then punched him in the ear with a fist “while waving around the semiautomatic rifle.” Christian feared he was about to be shot, the filing states.
“It reasonably appeared to plaintiff that (Lil Wayne) was about to carry out the threat,” the paperwork filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court states. “Plaintiff suffered severe emotional distress, requiring him to seek mental health treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) stemming directly from this incident.”
Christian says he racked up medical expenses from the alleged assault and battery and lost both wages and earning capacity. He’s seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, David Shaby, did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment. Attempts to reach a spokesperson for Lil Wayne were not immediately successful Friday.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department previously told Rolling Stone it was investigating a “verbal altercation” involving a security staffer and an adult male who allegedly “brandished a firearm” on Dec. 1, 2021 at the Hidden Hills address. The department didn’t name Lil Wayne specifically, but it issued the statement in response to a request that did name the “Lollipop” rapper.
Anonymous law enforcement sources reportedly told TMZ that the dispute involved Lil Wayne accusing the security guard of taking photos and leaking them to the media. Sources close to Lil Wayne denied the incident took place and said the rapper didn’t own a gun, TMZ reported.
Lil Wayne, 41, previously pleaded guilty to criminal gun possession in New York. He picked up a subsequent gun charge after FBI officials searched his Gulfstream jet during a December 2019 stop at a Miami-area airport and found a gold-plated pistol. He pleaded guilty in that case in December 2020. While he was awaiting sentencing in that federal case, he received a full presidential pardon from Donald Trump.