N.W.A. Manager Jerry Heller’s Straight Outta Compton Lawsuit Dismissed

Noah Yoo
Updated
The late Heller sued Dr. Dre, Ice Cube in 2015 for defamation over the biopic

A 2015 defamation and copyright infringement lawsuit filed by former N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller over the film Straight Outta Compton was dismissed today by a California federal judge, The Hollywood Reporter points out.

The suit claimed that Heller’s depiction in the film was inaccurate. (Heller was played by Paul Giamatti.) The complaint also alleged that he wasn’t given credit for work he’d done on screenplays. Heller—who died in 2016—sued Universal, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and the estate of Eazy-E for $35 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages.

In June 2016, District Judge Michael Fitzgerald tossed the majority of Heller’s defamation claims. After Heller’s death, his estate took over the case and filed a third amended complaint for copyright infringement. Today, a judge ruled that Heller’s estate failed to provide enough supporting evidence that Heller co-wrote the film’s screenplay.

Read “Op-Ed: Why Are the LAPD Threatened by a Great Rap Biopic?” on the Pitch.

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