R&B singer Ryan Leslie has stepped up to address getting forced to pay a man $1 million for finding his stolen laptop a couple years ago and explained his issues with the ruling.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Leslie defended his reason for not wanting to pay up a million bucks.
“And despite what the jury said, that million dollar reward is still out there for anybody who can return all my compositions to me. That’s why I never took the video off of YouTube. I never got anything back, but luckily God blessed me with talent and I could make some of the music over again, you know what I’m saying? … So I appreciate each and every one of y’all for your support tonight and for the future ’cause we gonna keep making this music and we gonna try to work something out with my man over in Germany – maybe he misunderstood – but this is a record off that album.” (Real Talk NY)
Details of the court ruling emerged online earlier in the week.
Jurors taught a big-talking hip-hop artist a lesson about broken promises yesterday when they ordered him to pay the $1 million reward he had offered for the return of his stolen laptop. Cheapskate performer and producer Ryan Leslie must fork over the Benjamins to auto-repair-shop owner Armin Augstein, who found the computer while walking his dog and turned it over to German cops in November 2010. Augstein, who returned home to Pulheim, Germany, after testifying against Leslie in Manhattan federal court, told The Post by phone he felt “very good” about the verdict. “I’m very happy . . . that the American judicial system, which is so totally different from ours, functioned so well with a jury that are not professionals and are laymen,” he said in German through one his lawyers, Steven Thal. (New York Post)
Immediately following the ruling, Leslie revealed his intent to file an appeal.
Leslie, 34, sat stone-faced as the unanimous verdict was announced after just over three hours of deliberations. Leslie — who had earlier joked he would either “be writing checks or buying Maseratis” — insisted afterward, “I’m not disappointed” and said he would consider an appeal. He also remained unrepentant about his refusal to honor the reward, which he initially set at $20,000, but then increased to $1 million in the YouTube video. “The reasons I defended myself in the case are the same reasons I believe Mr. Augstein is not entitled to the reward,” Leslie said. (New York Post)
Ryan also hopped on his Twitter page to post up an image of the media coverage.
“Don’t believe everything you read in the f*ckin news.” Even though it’s very entertaining! http://instagr.am/p/SnXOtBhWms/,” he tweeted Thursday (November 29) (Ryan Leslie’s Twitter)
Check out Ryan Leslie addressing the laptop:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RJNGDIimNM]
