Damon Dash has hit a major legal setback. The former Roc-A-Fella executive has been ordered to pay a $4 million default judgment after he lost a defamation lawsuit from Josh Webber, per TMZ. The suit was previously filed in April 2024, with Webber claiming that, due to Dash’s alleged defamatory comments, he lost out on potential business totaling $4 million in a producing and directing job.
Webber pointed to Dash’s comments he made on the Earn Your Leisure podcast, with the mogul claiming that Josh “stole” from him regarding a long-standing dispute surrounding the film, Dear Frank.
In the YouTube video, Dash explained his situation to the podcast hosts, saying, “I had a judgment. And I knew this dickhead Chris Brown (pause) and Josh Webber (pause) and Muddy Waters… Chris Brown the lawyer,” Dash specified…”I went through four trials with the same lawyer… What I lost was defamation because these guys trigger me and steal my sh*t… you think there is freedom of speech, it’s really not,” he said at the time.
Due to these comments, Webber’s suit claimed that a gig to direct a film starring Billy Bob Thornton and Scott Eastwood was stalled and then eventually lost, and that Dash should have to compensate for that loss.
According to the suit initially filed in 2019, Dash was hired to help co-direct Dear Frank in 2016. However, two years later, the businessman was fired from the film for being inebriated on set. After Dash’s firing, Webber claims the mogul then pitched Dear Frank to networks, including BET, under the title, The List, to avoid Webber catching on that he was taking the film idea elsewhere.
In early 2025, Josh Webber requested that Dame auction off some of his valuables, such as his engagement ring, to cover all his debts. And with this new judgement, Webber may be looking to double back on this request.
