Musician and producer Bongani Fassie, the son of late music icon Brenda Fassie. Has denied to claims of being served a summons by his former record label boss, Lance Stehr.
According to Drum Magazine, Stehr – who owns Muthaland Entertainment, is suing Fassie for defamation of character.
Following allegations that the former Jozi group member made in his show Finding Bongani on Moja Love last year.
Lance Stehr Sues Bongani Fassie For Defamation
The news report makes it known to the public that Stehr is suing Fassie for R6 million including legal charges.
“As a direct cause of the said publication and broadcasting of intentional falsehoods by Defendant, Plaintiff (Lance) has suffered, and will continue to suffer, significant harm to his business and its professional reputation resulting in commercial and economic loss in the sum of R6 000 000.00,” the documents read.
“The false and defamatory statements made and broadcasted by Defendant and his confidante Mercy Pakela have had the effect of lowering the reputation of the Plaintiff (Lance)in the eyes of his community in that Plaintiff is perceived by those to whom publication occurred as an unprofessional manager who exploits his clients and deals drugs to them.”
Stehr told the publication that he was a father figure to Fassie for six years after his mother’s passing.
At the time, Bongani Fassie had been a member of the hip-hop group Jozi. Consisting of then members Lesley “Da Les” Mampe, Ishmael Morabe and Luther “Crazy Lu” Cohen who passed away in 2019. The group was signed to Stehr’s label.
“I don’t know why he has run this campaign against me,” Stehr was quoted as saying.
The record label manager says that it is not about the money. All he wants is for the former Jozi member to apologise and retract his statements.
Bongani Fassie Retracts Receiving Summons
However, Fassie denies receiving a summons. “I heard about it, but I was not handed a summons,” he says.
During the show on Moja Love, the musician alleged that Stehr had contributed to his depression. A very dark period in his life where he was out of the public eye.
The artist even spoke openly about his drug and alcohol addiction, stating that Stehr gave him his first cocaine hit.
The Gotta Keep It Going hitmaker’s allegations were backed by Kwaito legend, Zola 7, who labelled Stehr “evil”.
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Mercy Phakela, who is a 1990s pop musician, also corroborated his claims by labelling Stehr “a master of drugs.”
“He takes drugs and gives them to the children so that they don’t think properly. So they shouldn’t use their minds to preserve their culture and to know the financial side of the industry,” Mercy Pakela alleged.
However, singer Ishmael Morabe – who was also a part of Jozi – defended Stehr, saying that the allegations were not true because he had once helped him overcome his addiction to cocaine, TimesLIVE reported in 2021.
Fassie told Drum that Stehr signed consent to do the show.
“He is interviewed on the show and signed a release form. You see, that’s where the danger is,” he said.
Fassie also said that he is not retracting anything he said about Stehr on the show.
“The cocaine stuff is true. If he wants to sue, then I will do the same. I am also coming for him,” Fassie was quoted as saying.
Additionally, he alleged that Stehr was involved in the misuse of his mother’s estate.
“Lance was involved in my mom’s estate. That got wound up, it was finalised and everything.“I want to find out where my R25 million went to. He has got a fight coming. Lance was my legal guardian, self-appointed, and it wound up to 11 years.“There are so many irregularities to this and I am not backing down either. Also, where am I supposed to get R6 million?”