Busta Rhymes has formally denied accusations of assault and office abuse made by a former assistant, calling the claims false and retaliatory in a newly filed defamation countersuit.

In a response filed as we speak (October 13) in Brooklyn federal court docket, the Hip-Hop icon and his firm, Starbus LLC, rejected all key allegations made by Dashiel Gables, a former assistant who sued earlier this 12 months.

Gables claimed he was bodily attacked, underpaid, and blacklisted after working for the rapper between July 2024 and January 2025.

Busta’s authorized workforce acknowledged Gables’ employment and $1,500-per-week wage however denied any wrongdoing. The filing disputes Gables’ claim that Busta Rhymes punched him in a Brooklyn lobby in January 2025, stating the two were present but that the alleged assault never occurred.

Following the incident, Gables mentioned he sought medical remedy for facial accidents and filed a police report. Busta Rhymes later turned himself in and was charged with third-degree assault.

Gables’ lawsuit seeks $6 to $7 million in damages for unpaid wages, emotional misery, and bodily hurt.

The response additionally challenges Gables’ claims of wage theft, arguing he was not legally categorised as an worker and was paid appropriately below the legislation.

Busta’s attorneys filed a countersuit for defamation, accusing Gables of intentionally spreading false and damaging claims to media shops and at a public press convention.

Gables described a hostile work atmosphere that included verbal insults, bodily intimidation, and degrading duties unrelated to job duties.

Among essentially the most disturbing claims is an incident the place one other assistant was allegedly pressured to unclog a bathroom together with his naked hand after the rapper mentioned it wasn’t cleaned correctly – allegations the rapper flatly denies.

“The foregoing statements are statements of purported fact, not opinion or protected rhetorical hyperbole, and they are false. [Busta Rhymes] did not assault or batter Gables, did not ‘routinely assault’ or spit on employees, did not make the alleged threats, and did not commit the other wrongful acts asserted as facts by Gables,” Busta Rhymes’ legal professional J. Patrick Butler wrote within the submitting.

The countersuit argues that Gables’ statements had been made with “actual malice” and have prompted critical hurt to the rap star’s repute and enterprise alternatives.

“At the time he made or caused the Publications, Gables knew the statements were false, or acted with reckless disregard for the truth, including by fabricating allegations of criminal conduct and violence, omitting exculpatory facts, and deliberately ignoring contrary evidence. At a minimum, Gables acted negligently in ascertaining the truth,” Butler added.

Busta Rhymes is in search of compensatory and punitive damages, reimbursement of authorized charges, and a court-ordered retraction of the statements.

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