Jerry Heller, N.W.A. and Eazy-E's Manager, Dies At 75
Chances are, if you've seen the summer big-screen smash Straight Outta Compton, that nasty taste you walked out with was likely a symptom of maniacal manager Jerry Heller's influence, which has less to do with Paul Giamatti's portrayal and more to do with just how deceitful and two-faced the perennial shit-stirrer is and always has been in real-life. That's not to say that Heller's impact on the industry was all bad, after all, without his touring and marketing strategies, hip-hop may have never crossed over and we may have never heard the genius of NWA and its many legendary offshoot successes.
But a recent suit, naming producers Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, director F. Gary Gray, as well as the estate of Eazy-E (which he has tirelessly claimed to be in the corner of) and the production companies behind the film, seeks to recover damn-near all of the film's historic profits (highest-grossing music biopic ever) for its portrayal of him as the man who screwed the ferocious Compton five-piece out of gross sums of cash, leaving his already shaky reputation even more battered and also claiming to have lifted much of the film's material from Heller's own book, Ruthless: A Memoir.
Listen, we're not calling it in either party's favor, but you have to admit, the timing of all of this is suspect and Heller, on film or off, has never exactly been the most forthright of NWA crew alum, firing verbal and legal shots at virtually every hand and voice that was ever involved in the game-changing group's dealings. Here's hoping he either pays up or shuts up some time in the very near future.
H/T: Forbes
