Joseph “Fat Joe” Cartagena’s legal team issued a statement criticizing the Grammy-nominated musician’s former hype man Terrance Dixon and Dixon’s attorney Tyrone Blackburn after he previously sued them for extortion in April 2025.

The new statement from Cartagena’s lawyer Joe Tacopina comes after Dixon and Blackburn filed a retaliatory lawsuit against Cartagena on Thursday.

“The lawsuit filed by Tyrone Blackburn and Terrance Dixon is a blatant act of retaliation — a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the civil suit we filed first, which exposed their coordinated scheme to extort Mr. Cartagena through lies, threats, and manufactured allegations,” Tacopina said.

“We didn’t just sue a disgruntled former employee trying to revive a false claim from 15 years ago — we sued the lawyer behind it all. Tyrone Blackburn has a well-documented pattern of abusing the courts to harass defendants and generate media attention. Two separate federal judges have condemned his conduct — one for filing headline-chasing lawsuits full of salacious and baseless claims, and another for making repeated legal misstatements and personal attacks in court filings. He is now the subject of a pending referral to the Southern District’s disciplinary committee.

Law enforcement is aware of the extortionate demand at the heart of this scheme. The allegations against Mr. Cartagena are complete fabrications — lies intended to damage his reputation and force a settlement through public pressure. Mr. Cartagena will not be intimidated. We have taken legal action to expose this fraudulent campaign and hold everyone involved accountable.”