An appeals court has upheld most of rapper Flo Rida’s legal victory against energy drink maker Celsius, when he successfully sued the company for breach of contract–but he may not be awarded as many millions as he thought.
A Broward jury sided with Flo Rida, whose real name is Tramar Dillard, in the lawsuit against Celsius in January of 2023, awarding the rapper more than $82 million over the company's breach of contract on an endorsement deal.
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Flo Rida filed the suit over company stock he said he was promised and never received for promoting the Celsius drinks for years.
The jury ultimately decided in Flo Rida's favor on all three of his claims, finding that Celsius breached a 2014 contract that should have given the rapper 250,000 company shares, a 2016 contract worth 500,000 shares, and royalties on sparkling orange drinks dating back to 2018.
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But on Wednesday, the District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida for the Fourth District said in part, “Celsius argues the trial court erroneously allowed the appellees to pursue an improper measure of damages, specifically the stock valuation at the time of trial rather than the date of the alleged breach of contract. We agree and reverse on that issue and affirm on the others without comment.”
In short, the court maintains that when determining damages, the jury should not have used Celsius’ stock value as of Jan. 13, 2023, the last day when evidence was presented at trial. They agree with Celsius that the jury should have used the stock price on the day of the breach, April 30, 2021, or the date when the stock could have first been sold, Nov. 1, 2021.
It was not immediately clear how significantly this decision could change Flo Rida’s award, but according to Bloomberg Law News, it could be up to a 50% reduction.
