Mass Appeal, a record label co-founded by Nas, settles cultural discrimination lawsuit brought by former head of growth in 2023.
Nas ‘ record label, Mass Appeal, has just settled a lawsuit brought by a former light worker who alleges she faced cultural bias during her tenure at the company.
On Friday, June 13, Mass Appeal settled with Melissa Cooper, the agency’s former head of creation, outside of court and filed a joint action with Cooper to dismiss the case completely, Billboard reported.
While the first complaint did not independently name Nas, Cooper did reimburse the company’s CEO, Peter Bittenbender, and Mass Appeal’s original content chief, Jenya Meggs.
In 2023, Cooper sued Mass Appeal, alleging that during her career from April 2021 to June 2023, she was met with a “racist conspiracy”. Cooper claims Meggs, who is Black, didn’t hold back in expressing her hatred for a” white person working in shoulder climb” and would often disparage her in discussions and refuse to work with her.
According to Cooper, her refusal led to the original development head’s treatment from specific projects, including Mass Appeal’s Hip Hop 40 Reside concert, before she was ultimately fired.
After she was fired, a former romantic partner of Meggs showed Cooper text messages between Meggs and a documentarian producer that contained further “racist” insults toward Cooper, including calling her a” cracker” and complaints about” white folks”, the Hollywood Reporter reported at the time. When Cooper brought the information to the notice of Bittenbender, she claims he only shrugged them off.
Mass Appeal, Bittenbender, and Meggs “vigorously” refuse engaging in discriminatory practices. According to court records, they said Cooper was fired for economic reasons, at the time, her department had never made a purchase in a year. They even claim the renowned text messages of Meggs were taken out of context.
When a print publication, Nas relaunched Mass Appeal in 2014 alongside Bittenbender, and the company has since evolved into a multi-media company and report logo.
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Originally sourced via trusted media partner. https://thegrio.com/2025/06/17/nas-mass-appeal-label-settles-lawsuit-brought-by-former-white-employee-alleging-racial-discrimination/
