Reason First: Why Did Fetty Wap Call Shawna Morgan a Thief?

Desiderius Erasmus once said that “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” Single-sighted rapper Fetty Wap may be feeling closer to a pauper, now. In a defamation case, a judge ruled that Fetty violated a contract between him and Shawna Morgan, an ex-tour staffer. After the dust settled, Fetty is now being forced to pay just over a million dollars to Morgan. Not only did Mr. Wap not reimburse Morgan for paying out of her own pocket to finance his tours, but she stopped receiving the ten percent owed to her for working on those tours. Not only that, but Fetty damaged Morgan’s reputation by blasting her in the public claiming theft against her name.

All of this points to the significance of contracts. Just as Troi “Star” Torain has said on numerous occasions, “It’s no one’s business to teach you business.” But this is just a case of common decency. Fetty Wap had the opportunity to be honest and pay the young woman for her work. Instead, in some bizarre fashion, he led people to believe that Morgan had been a thief. Contracts protect people like Morgan in myriad ways. They clearly state the terms and conditions inherent in any relationship between two or more parties.

It is good that Morgan kept her receipts and showed to the court that she did in fact not receive those payments and found herself the victim of Fetty Wap’s lies. The written word or spoken word, either explicit or implicit permits everyone involved to know what is in store for them upon signing or agreeing. Property rights such as monies generated from hip hop tours represent such agreements. Because Fetty failed to pay Morgan for her efforts, he is now guilty of breaching the contract. Had he more business sense (and common sense, too) he would’ve paid the young woman for services rendered.

But it goes beyond just sense. Rationality is the main idea when it comes to matters like this. As a result of living in the freest of the semi-free countries in the world, America, contracts protect the mind. The thought process behind the words printed on a page or screen help to settle matters like the one in which Fetty found himself in a reasonable way. By taking into account the billions of contracts that are signed each year, it would seem as if Fetty would’ve had the wisdom to know not to go around disparaging the character of former employees.

After being found guilty of such actions and told to spend the kind of money that is involved, Wap should probably take some night courses on the nature of business. For him to be oblivious to the plight of one of his workers spells for a treacherous road ahead. Will the people working with him now step forward with similar accusations? Will he be able to handle the onslaught of media attention? Will his bankrolls be depleted over these lawsuits? Whatever the case, Fetty must pay out and live with the fact that although he is not a criminal in this case, the guilt of claiming defamation that never occurred stains his name. He should be able to tour some more and make the money back that he had to fork over to Morgan. He might want to take better stewardship over his finances as well. Fetty has stiff competition from a crop of rappers who may’ve been inspired by his trap life, sing-songy tunes. He should be able to respect contracts and not recklessly speak against his employees. Anyone who agrees to aid Fetty in protecting his estimated eight-million-dollar fortune should be aware of this case. All of his staff should be on alert as to what he plans to do with the contracts that he signed with them.

To avoid ending up like Morgan, who may have been awarded over a million dollars but will probably have to pay legal fees, everyone should keep their lawyers close, including Fetty. There might be a thirsty savage out to drain Fetty of his funds. He or she might look at this case and concoct an intricate plot to relieve Fetty of his wealth. He should put a padlock on his future contracts and pay attention to every dollar that he makes. Once he secures the contracts he should be able to enjoy his riches and not have to worry about whether people will claim that he defamed them or not. It is incumbent upon Fetty, if he wants to use such dollars, to study the game and understand that he cannot just go around calling people names and saying that they stole from him.