Key takeaways Fat Joe alleges attorney Tyrone Blackburn used fake AI-generated legal citations in a court filing. Court documents claim "at least ten instances" of fabricated case law in motion to dis...
Rapper Fat Joe has accused attorney Tyrone Blackburn of submitting court documents filled with artificial intelligence-generated fake legal citations in an attempt to dismiss the artist's defamation lawsuit, according to court filings obtained by multiple news outlets.
Fat Joe's legal team argued that Blackburn's filing to toss the case is riddled with "misrepresentations and fabrications of legal authority clearly generated by AI."
The brief highlights "at least ten instances" where Blackburn allegedly cited "hallucinated" case law, which are references that either don't exist or distort real rulings.
The Bronx rapper, whose real name is Joseph Cartagena, sued his former hypeman Terrance Dixon and Blackburn earlier this year.
The lawsuit claims the two attempted to extort him by spreading false accusations of sexual misconduct and underage relationships in an effort to damage his reputation and pressure him into a multimillion-dollar payout.
"Blackburn's egregious misconduct in drafting the Motion overshadows Defendants' substantive arguments," the filing states. It further accuses the lawyer of having "irresponsibly relied on artificial intelligence-generated content without manual verification."
This isn't Blackburn's first encounter with allegations of using fabricated AI-generated legal citations.
In a separate defamation case involving pastor T.D. Jakes, U.S. District Judge William Stickman ordered Blackburn to pay more than $76,000 in legal fees after filings were discovered to contain AI-generated citations and false claims. Stickman described the conduct as "clear ethical violations of the highest order."
Judge Stickman wrote: "Whoever or whatever drafted the briefs signed and filed by Blackburn, it is clear that he, at the very best, acted with culpable neglect of his professional obligations.
The alternative is that he acted in a conscious effort to deceive and mislead the Court." The judge added that he was "inclined to believe the latter," given Blackburn's response to fabrication accusations.
In a statement to The Dallas Morning News, Blackburn said he recently paid for a new AI feature that would prompt him to insert relevant case law and would then generate a motion or other legal filing based on that case law. He said the AI program merged fact patterns and mismatched citations in his recent filings. Blackburn explained: "This program attracted me since I do not have paralegals or assistance."
Fat Joe's attorneys are requesting that the judge deny Blackburn's dismissal motion, impose sanctions, and allow the defamation lawsuit to proceed. "It is time, once and for all, for Blackburn to be sanctioned for his flagrant disregard of his duties and responsibilities to the court in fabricating and intentionally misconstruing legal authority," they wrote in their filing.
The legal team, led by attorney Joe Tacopina, argues that by submitting a motion filled with false citations, Blackburn is attempting to derail the case and avoid accountability.
Joseph "Fat Joe" Cartagena's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, described the lawsuit filed by Blackburn and Dixon as "a blatant act of retaliation, a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the civil suit we filed first, which exposed their coordinated scheme to extort Mr. Cartagena through lies, threats, and manufactured allegations."
Tacopina stated: "We didn't just sue a disgruntled former employee trying to revive a false claim from 15 years ago — we sued the lawyer behind it all. Tyrone Blackburn has a well-documented pattern of abusing the courts to harass defendants and generate media attention."
The rapper's legal team alleges that Dixon and Blackburn pushed fabricated social media posts accusing Fat Joe of pedophilia and orchestrating murder-for-hire plots.
According to a press release from Fat Joe's legal team: "Law enforcement is aware of the extortionate demand at the heart of this scheme. The allegations against Mr. Cartagena are complete fabrications — lies intended to damage his reputation and force a settlement through public pressure."
The judge presiding over Fat Joe's case has not yet ruled on the motion to dismiss or the request for sanctions against Blackburn.
For more news and insights, visit AI Pulse on our website.
Key takeaways OpenAI has signed a multi-year, $10 billion agreement with AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems to secure computing infrastructure. The deal will deliver 750 megawatts of computing power throug...
KEY TAKEAWAYS: xAI implemented restrictions preventing Grok from editing images of real people in revealing clothing after global backlash California Attorney General Rob Bonta launched investigation...
Key takeaways TSMC reported fourth-quarter net income of NT$505.74 billion, beating analyst expectations and setting a new record. Fourth-quarter revenue reached NT$1.046 trillion, up 20.5% year over...
