Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Nas’ Company Mass Appeal
A former high-ranking Nas’ Mass Appeal imprint employee is reportedly suing the company over racial discrimination.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the former head of development, Melissa Cooper, filed suit on Tuesday (October 17) against Mass Appeal in a Manhattan court. A white woman, Cooper alleges she was the victim of “venomous and racist comments about ‘white folk’ and ‘crackers.’” She also claims she was removed from "several high value projects, creating a hostile work environment, and terminating her employment."
More specifically, Cooper noted that some racist commentary occurred while she was working on the Freaknik documentary, which is slated to air on Hulu in 2024. According to the suit, Jenya Meggs, a Black woman and SVP for partnerships and content acquisition at the multimedia company, was allegedly upset she wasn’t involved in the doc while Cooper was and allegedly messaged an executive producer that it was “usual white folk behavior.”
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“Bittenbender removed Cooper from a number of projects, including Mass Appeal’s Hip Hop 50 Live concert at Yankee Stadium planned for August 11, 2023,” the suit reads, citing the company’s chief executive Peter Bittenbender, a white man who allegedly removed Cooper from various projects. “Cooper’s removal from this important project, along with others Meggs was staffed on, effectively stripped Cooper of her primary role at Mass Appeal.”
According to the lawsuit, Cooper would be let go in June and claimed that no investigation into her claims of racial discrimination was conducted.
Specifically, Nas is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
