Bronx rapper Remy Ma has something new and more serious to face, apart from Grammy nominations. A $10 million civil lawsuit was filed against her after she shot an acquaintance twice in the abdomen.

She was described as “willfully, wantonly and maliciously” shooting Makeda Barnes-Joseph after leaving a New York nightclub in July. It surely isn’t the first legal problem the rapper encounters, but it surely is the gravest, facing up to 25 years in jail given the criminal charges.

The 26-year rapper whose real name is Remy Smith pleaded innocent to the criminal charges in New York state court. In the lawsuit which was issued in Manhattan federal court Barnes-Joseph named defendants several of the artist’s recording companies, including Vivendi-owned Universal Music Group and Sure Shot Recordings. The companies are believed to have encouraged the rapper to be violent, as a means of constructing her image.

Smith allegedly shot Barnes-Joseph over a $2,000 dispute, money which were reportedly missing from the rapper’s purse, but were never found. Barnes-Joseph was shot twice in the abdomen and was left bleeding, and is now claiming that after the incident has been feeling anxious and depressed. 

Smith’s lawyer Ivan Fisher said the lawsuit was “irresponsible” and “looking for the deepest pocket it could find.”
Remy Ma is a winner of  The Black Entertainment Television award for best female hip-hop artist in 2005.