Damon Dash, once hip hop royalty with keys to Roc-A-Fella Records, finally reached the floor he spent years circling. Bankruptcy court, bargain auctions, and unpaid obligations followed. His last grasp at recovery politely introduced itself as judgment.

On December 30, 2025, he prepared an auction to quietly unfold for the copyrights and remaining assets of Poppington LLC, operating as Dame Dash Studios. This was an attempt to cover for his $1 million debt. However, when only one attendee, that too his legal rival, Mike Muntaser of Muddy Water Motion Pictures, things went awry.

According to New York Post, Muntaser purchased the entire Dame Dash Studios catalog for one hundred dollars and fifty cents. The assets included film rights to Honor Up. He publicly described the purchase as a deliberate jab at Damon Dash.

Muntaser later described the acquisition to the New York Post as a deliberate strike at Dash, with whom he has sustained years of litigation. Alongside filmmaker Josh Webber, Muntaser previously prevailed in multiple defamation and copyright infringement lawsuits, a pattern noted.

This auction followed Dash’s September 2025 Chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing $25.3 million in debt and minimal assets. Earlier, in November 2024, New York State seized his Roc-A-Fella Records stake for tax liabilities, compounded by unpaid child support and renewed lawsuits.

Rather than closing a chapter, the sale deepened a rivalry already sustained by years of litigation and public sparring.

A look at Damon Dash and Mike Muntaser's rivalry

The rivalry between Mike Muntaser and Damon Dash began around 2018, during the troubled production of Dear Frank, originally titled The List. Creative authority fractured early, turning a film collaboration into a prolonged professional standoff.

Muntaser, as executive producer through Muddy Water Motion Pictures, removed Dash as director, citing irreconcilable creative differences. Subsequently, Dash continued presenting himself publicly as the project’s owner, prompting Josh Webber and Muntaser to allege market dilution through competing materials.

That dispute hardened into litigation when Dash accused Webber of theft, claims that were later rejected in court. Instead, judges repeatedly ruled against Dash, as per TMZ, awarding Muntaser and Webber substantial defamation damages, establishing a pattern of legal defeats rather than isolated setbacks.

By late 2025, the feud expanded beyond a single film, encompassing public statements, collapsed financing, and renewed lawsuits. Each escalation reinforced a relationship defined less by competition than by consequence, with courtroom judgments replacing creative collaboration at every turn.

What do you think of the jab Muntaser took at Damon Dash at his auction? Let us know in the comments!

Written by

Iffat Siddiqui

Edited by

Aliza Siddiqui