Offset was accused by the Los Angeles vehicle rental company Platinum Motorsports (PML) of bailing on a 2020 Bentley Bentayga he allegedly rented and never returned in 2019. The company sued the Migos rapper, demanding he pay $950,027.35 for the vehicle. Offset ended up defaulting on the lawsuit and was required by the courts to pay the lofty sum.
According to Rolling Stone, Offset has filed a sworn statement in the case this week saying he never drove or possessed the car in question. He claimed Oriel Williams, the mother of one of his children, was the one who rented the vehicle. Offset agreed to cover the rental cost but said Williams called him in July 2020 to say the vehicle had suddenly gone missing. Offset claimed he immediately called Platinum and was made to believe the issue had been resolved.
“I was told by a PML representative that PML would report the car stolen to the authorities,” he said in a statement. “I did not steal the car, and I reported the car missing to PML as soon as I was advised by Williams that the car could not be located. In or about July 2020, I was informed by PML that the car was reported stolen to the Los Angeles Police Department and that they were investigating the theft of the car.
“I was never in possession of the car, and — to my knowledge — was not listed as an ‘additional driver’ on the rental agreement. I had rented cars from PML in the past, however, and they had both my Georgia driver’s license and credit card on file.”
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Offset claimed he also checked in with his insurance company following the incident, but his insurance company claimed he wasn’t covered for the purchase because he hadn’t signed any rental agreement.
He added, “Not hearing otherwise from PML or the Los Angeles Police Department in 2020 or thereafter, I assumed that the Bentley — which was very unique and which I believed was protected with OnStar or some other electronic detection device — had either been recovered or that any loss had been covered by PML’s insurance.”
The “Red Room” lyricist also claimed Platinum never served him the lawsuit and says the company instead mailed it to an address in Atlanta where his father lived and where he’s “never” resided. Offset said he also never gave his dad permission to open mail on his behalf.
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The only reason he even learned about the lawsuit, Offset wrote, is because Cardi B’s entertainment law firm discovered it by chance in the Los Angeles County Superior Court system. He added that following this discovery, Offset’s lawyers reached out to Platinum to request “a stipulation vacating the default and default judgment” and claimed Offset offered “to pay both sides’ fees related to the default paperwork.” The rental company’s lawyers said they were “too busy” at the time to consider the proposition.
Offset concluded Platinum’s suit was misleading because it “never advised the court that [Offset] did not sign the rental agreement in question, and [Offset] is not listed as an authorized driver on the rental contract.” A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for May.
