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NEW YORK — Nicki Minaj is fighting to remove herself personally from a lawsuit seeking more than $275,000 in allegedly unpaid production expenses connected to her 2023 performances and the promotional campaign surrounding her album Pink Friday 2.

The lawsuit, pending in New York Supreme Court, was brought by 24/7 Productions against Minaj and Pink Friday Productions. The production company alleges it advanced substantial sums and provided production services for Minaj’s 2023 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball appearances and a week of promotional activity in New York connected with the release of Pink Friday 2.

According to the allegations, 24/7 Productions provided services that included advance planning, staffing, audio, lighting, rigging, transportation, on-site management and logistics. The company maintains that budgets were presented to Minaj’s representatives and approved before the expenses were incurred.

The production company further alleges that Pink Friday Productions received approximately $650,000 in connection with Minaj’s Jingle Ball performances while 24/7 remained unpaid for expenses it had advanced.

Minaj and her company dispute the allegations.

The case has now developed into two related but legally distinct questions: whether money is actually owed to 24/7 Productions and, even if a debt exists, whether Minaj herself can be held personally responsible for paying it.

That distinction could ultimately become one of the most important issues in the case.

In a motion filed July 14, Minaj’s attorneys asked the court to dismiss the claims against her individually. Her legal team argues that Minaj never personally contracted with 24/7 Productions and that the agreement alleged in the lawsuit was instead between the production company and Pink Friday Productions.

Minaj’s attorneys contend that the plaintiff cannot simply transform an alleged corporate obligation into Minaj’s personal debt because she owns or controls the company.

Her lawyers characterized the effort to name her individually as an “ill-advised attempt to sue a famous deep-pocket.”

Under the defense theory, even if 24/7 Productions establishes that Pink Friday Productions owes money, that would not automatically establish that Minaj personally owes the same debt.

The production company, however, has also pursued an unjust-enrichment theory, alleging that Minaj personally received the benefit of the services and expenses it provided. Minaj’s attorneys dispute that theory as well, arguing that any benefit she received flowed through the contractual relationship involving Pink Friday Productions.

The dispute took another turn this week with the disclosure of emails from November 2023 discussing the expected cost of Minaj’s promotional activities.

In one November 29 email cited in reporting on the court evidence, a member of Minaj’s team reportedly described a $250,000 allowance from Republic Records as “extremely low” and estimated that the New York promotional week could cost at least twice that amount.

The correspondence also discussed substantial hotel and transportation expenses, along with costs for photographers, videographers, tailoring and air travel.

Those communications could become important to 24/7 Productions because the company maintains that Minaj’s representatives knew the promotional activities would substantially exceed the initial allowance and nevertheless authorized the work and expenses.

But evidence that Minaj’s team knew the promotional campaign would be expensive does not, by itself, resolve who is legally responsible for paying the disputed invoices.

That is where the corporate-liability issue becomes significant.

Limited liability companies are generally structured to separate the financial obligations of the business from the personal assets of their owners or members. A plaintiff seeking to hold an individual responsible for an LLC’s contractual debt generally needs a separate legal basis for imposing that liability.

24/7 Productions therefore faces potentially different burdens in proving its claims against Pink Friday Productions and against Minaj individually.

The company can attempt to establish that production services were requested, budgets were approved, expenses were advanced and reimbursement was required. Keeping Minaj personally in the case, however, requires the plaintiff to overcome her argument that she was not personally a party to the alleged agreement.

Pink Friday Productions has also disputed that an outstanding obligation remains, meaning the court may ultimately have to address both the existence and amount of any unpaid debt before determining who, if anyone, is legally responsible for it.

The dispute dates back several years. According to the lawsuit, 24/7 Productions previously worked with Minaj in connection with the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards before again providing services during the 2023 Jingle Ball appearances and Pink Friday 2 promotional campaign.

The production company alleges that its attempts to obtain reimbursement continued for nearly two years before litigation was filed.

For now, no court finding establishes that Minaj personally owes the disputed $275,000. The amount remains an allegation being litigated, and Minaj is specifically challenging the attempt to attach the alleged corporate debt to her individually.

The court’s treatment of her dismissal request could significantly narrow the lawsuit. If Minaj succeeds, the underlying financial dispute could continue against Pink Friday Productions while she is removed as an individual defendant.

If the court allows the claims against her to proceed, 24/7 Productions would still have to prove its allegations and establish a legal basis for holding Minaj personally responsible.

The lawsuit remains pending.