Singer’s Uncle Blames Cousin in Family War Over Plane Crash

Aaliyah‘s uncle asserts that his son shares responsibility for the singer’s tragic death, making this shocking claim as they engage in a contentious legal battle over financial matters.

TMZ has acquired legal documents revealing a lawsuit initiated by Jomo Hankerson against Barry Hankerson and his record label, Blackground Records. Barry is Aaliyah’s uncle and has been her manager for many years. Jomo is the son of Barry and the cousin of Aaliyah.

According to the lawsuit, Barry alleges that Aaliyah’s cousin was compensated to arrange travel for her music video shoot in the Bahamas, which includes the ill-fated journey in August 2001 that resulted in her tragic plane crash.

Aaliyah’s uncle contends that his son “neglected his duties” in organizing the travel arrangements, leading her to take a private jet that ultimately crashed, resulting in the loss of all lives on board.

Barry states that the tragic incident “could have been prevented if [Jomo] had fulfilled his paid responsibility of coordinating the travel plans.”

Barry revealed that his relationship with his son significantly changed following Aaliyah’s untimely demise.

Setting aside the blame game, the ongoing family dispute is quite intriguing.

Jomo alleges that his father violated a settlement regarding music rights, particularly concerning the recording masters and copyrights of Aaliyah, Toni Braxton, DMX, and Timbaland.

He claims he is entitled to 12% of the profits Barry made from the music assets under the terms of a settlement, asserting that his father has used the record label to obscure income and “create fictitious expenses unrelated to the music assets, solely to coerce [him] into accepting a lesser amount than he deserves.” Jomo is pursuing over $1.2 million in damages.

Barry has denied all claims of misconduct in the lawsuit, arguing that the settlement in question is invalid due to being signed under fraudulent pretenses.

Barry also alleged that his son once threatened to release unreleased Aaliyah music if his financial demands were not satisfied.