DaBaby successfully delays lawsuits claiming he “sucker-punched” 64-year-old man

A lawsuit claiming that DaBaby punched a 64-year-old man has been suspended, pending resolution of a parallel felony battery charge against the rapper, according to the latest judge ruling yesterday (November 8).

The lawsuit also claims that DaBaby – real name Jonathan Kirk – knocked out the man’s tooth, stole his phone and vandalised his Hollywood mansion. Los Angeles County Judge Terry Green stated that Kirk has a Fifth Amendment right to refuse to sit for a deposition or answer any written discovery questions in the civil case.

The Kanye West collaborator faces up to four years in prison if convicted of the “battery with serious bodily injury” charge filed against him by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

“I can’t say no to them. They have a felony complaint,” Judge Green said at a hearing in Los Angeles (per Rolling Stone). “This is not just a potential out there in the universe that, ‘Gee, maybe the D.A. might file on this.’”

The judge went on to say that he would allow plaintiff Gary Pagar, the alleged victim in the criminal case, to continue his pursuit of documents and third parties related to his civil claims of battery, fraud, breach of contract, conversion and trespassing.

Part of Pagar’s complaint centres on his claim that he rented his home to Kirk under a “vacation” lease that specified no more than 12 people could occupy the property – a stipulation he claims was immediately disregarded when 40 people were brought to the estate. The people allegedly included a professional film crew whom he claims had been employed to shoot the rapper’s video for ‘Play U Lay’ without permission.

According to the complaint, Kirk and others with him destroyed the home’s security camera shortly after Pagar demanded that the video shoot cease immediately. When Pagar turned up at the property in person, Kirk allegedly “sucker-punched [him] in the face, knocking out his tooth and leaving him bruised and bloodied”, according to the lawsuit.

Pagar then claimed that Kirk and a group of unidentified men began “pushing him, shoving, spitting on him, threatening him, and taunting him”. He alleges that Kirk and the men “tossed” Pagar’s phone back and forth and scratched Pagar’s car with keys.

The lawsuit claims that Kirk only left the scene after Pagar informed him that the police had been called. The complaint and its exhibits list numerous damages to his property as well as the disappearance of his $1,149 phone.

Kirk has pleaded not guilty to the felony battery charge and filed his motion last month asking the court to freeze the civil lawsuit until the criminal matter runs its course.

The rapper argued that because the cases involve the same dispute dating back to December 2020, he has a Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination and conceal his defence ahead of a potential criminal trial.

DaBaby has been embroiled in numerous controversies and legal battles in recent years, including the 2018 altercation in which he shot and killed 19-year-old Jaylin Craig, which the rapper has consistently claimed was in self-defence.