Jerry Heller Lawsuit Against N.W.A Moving Forward Despite His Death

One time N.W.A manager Jerry Heller died last week in car cash resulting from a heart attack, at the age of 75. While he is no longer here, his defamation lawsuit against N.W.A for his portrayal in the biopic Straight Outta Compton is alive and kicking.

As previously reported, Heller sued the group back in October 2015 along with other movie producers, plus the estate of Eazy E, for defamation. In particular, he claims that the following actions of his movie character are not based in reality: Heller withholding a $75,000 check from Ice Cube; Heller tricking Dre and Cube into signing unfavorable contracts; Eazy E firing Jerry Heller; Heller enjoying lobster brunches while those questionable contracts were signed. The former manager claims that he never gave the studio permission to use his likeness; he also believes producers used scenes from his book without acknowledging their doing so. The suit seeks $35 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages, plus all proceeds from the film.

His recent death raised question as to what would become of the lawsuit, but according to Heller's attorney Mickey Shapiro everything is still a go. TMZ recently caught up with Shapiro who told them, “We can still prove the defamation and we’re going to do that. Other parts of the case aren’t affected by his death at all. His lawsuit against Tomica for violating a confidentiality agreement, that’s a fact.”

He added, “His lawsuit against everyone in the studios for taking material from his book, which he wrote years before, and lifting it out of the book and putting it into the movie and changing it for dramatic impact. He was the good guy. They made him out to be a horrible exploiter.”

Shapiro has previously stated that it was the movie that contributed to Heller's death.

13 Feuds Involving Rappers Going at Non-Rappers