Aaliyah’s Uncle Blames His Son For Her Death in Bitter Legal Dispute

It has been 25 years since the passing of the late R&B singer Aaliyah. Now, her uncle and manager, Barry Hankerson, has just made a shocking claim that his son, Jomo Hankerson, is partly to blame for the singer’s death in a court battle that has turned ugly.

The father and son are wrapped in a bitter legal dispute over an alleged breach of settlement. Jomo is suing his father and Blackground Records, Barry’s record label, for breach of agreement over the masters and publishing copyrights for DMX, Timbaland, Toni Braxton, and Aaliyah, according to TMZ. He is seeking $1.2 million in damages after not being paid 12% of the money he claims he’s owed from music assets.

However, in court documents obtained by TMZ, Barry Hankerson is making bold claims to win his case. Per the documents, Barry states that his son was in charge of covering the travel for Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat” music video, which was filmed in the Bahamas in August 2001, and that his failure to fulfill his role as travel coordinator directly caused her death.

Aaliyah died on Aug. 25, 2001, after wrapping up filming for her video. Aaliyah and her production crew boarded a flight back to the United States from the Bahamas. According to People, the charter plane she was supposed to fly on was replaced by one with a lower weight limit than the original. Between the passengers and their luggage, the plane was severely unbalanced, causing it to crash to the ground, killing Aaliyah and eight others.

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Barry Hankerson alleges his son is to blame, saying Jomo “failed in his responsibility” and the crash “may have been avoided had [Jomo] followed through on his compensated task of travel coordination.”

The allegations have been denied by Jomo, who claims his dad has been using his record label to hide profits made and manufacture expenses “for the purpose of pressuring [Jomo] into accepting less than what he is owed.”

The legal battle is still ongoing, but Barry Hankerson’s startling claims, bringing Aaliyah’s tragic passing into the courtroom, show that this family feud is only going to get messier before it’s resolved.