News of March 27, 1997
Over "Against All Odds": Jacques Agnant Sues Tupac's Estate
200 million dollars over one verse: In March 1997, Tupac's co-defendant from New York sued, claiming he was depicted as a snitch in a song.
On March 27, 1997, MTV News reported a 200 million dollar defamation lawsuit against Tupac’s estate. The plaintiff was Jacques Agnant, 33, from New York, known as “Haitian Jack”. He had been Tupac’s co-defendant in the 1994 New York sexual abuse trial and had at that time accepted a plea deal with the prosecution for a 1,000 dollar fine and three years of probation.
One Verse as Grounds for a Lawsuit
The trigger was the song Against All Odds on The Don Killuminati, in which Tupac also attacked Nas, Mobb Deep, and Sean “Puffy” Combs. The lines describe a stocky, light-skinned man with a Haitian accent named Jack and portray him as an informant for federal authorities. Agnant stated that this portrayal was false; since the album’s release in the fall of 1996, he could no longer find work and feared for his life.
Tupac’s attorney did not comment initially. How Tupac met Agnant and what is known about the allegations can be found on the page Jacques “Haitian Jack” Agnant; the 1994 trial is detailed in The Case in New York.
Jacques "Haitian Jack" AgnantNasMobb DeepSean "Puffy" Combs and Bad Boy Records