Busta Rhymes' former personal assistant sues rapper over working conditions

The former personal assistant to Long Island-raised rapper Busta Rhymes has sued the hip-hop star in Brooklyn federal court, claiming he was underpaid and overworked for the physically and emotionally abusive music boss.

Rhymes, whose given name is Trevor George Smith Jr., has been accused of assaulting, degrading and stiffing a former assistant, Dashiel Gables, in court papers filed Tuesday. The lawsuit says the rapper also blacklisted the former employee from future work in the rap music industry.

Even before he started last July working for Rhymes, who grew up in Hempstead and attended Uniondale High School, Gables’ friends bet he wouldn’t last because the rapper has a reputation as being difficult to work for, the lawsuit says.

The rapper could not be reached for comment. Representatives did not immediately respond to questions about the lawsuit.

Gables, who was paid $200 a day, had heard that Rhymes’ last assistant quit in tears after being forced to unclog the boss’ toilet without a plunger, according to the suit.

Nevertheless, having worked with other difficult bosses in the music business, Gables pressed forward, he says in the lawsuit, until the arrangement ruptured in punches on Jan. 10.

Gables said he was forced to suffer a number of indignities as Rhymes' personal assistant, including being forced to remove the rapper's rings, being threatened with "street justice," paying for vodka and cigarettes without timely reimbursement, being spit at and hit, being called homophobic slurs, being mocked for his hearing difficulties and working long hours without proper pay.

Gables said he worked up to 18 hours a day while on tour with Rhymes from July 2024 until last September. He would have to accompany the rapper until sometimes 3 a.m. at nightclubs, fetching his cigars and performing other menial tasks. Gables said that Rhymes improperly classified him as a salaried employee, making him exempt from overtime.

The highly stressful work environment finally came to a head on Jan. 10 at 4 a.m. when Gables, Rhymes and another employee arrived at the rapper’s Brooklyn apartment. Gables said Rhymes became upset that when he went to get a luggage cart to carry Rhymes’ belongings, he didn’t bring in a large tray of chicken to the apartment, according to the suit.

As they were discussing the issue, Gables took a call from his daughter, fearing something was wrong for her to be calling at such an early hour, he said.

Angry at being cut off mid-sentence, Rhymes told him to "Stay the [expletive] off his phone," according to the suit, adding, "Don’t tell me about your [expletive] kid. What the [expletive] that got to do with me?"

Gables said that’s when Rhymes punched him in the face twice. The personal assistant walked off, he said, to the sound of Rhymes "screaming like a petulant child."

Gables filed a police report and had his injuries looked at by doctors, which he said has caused him to be iced out of the rap music world by his former boss. The criminal case against Rhymes has been sealed, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

"He couldn’t go back," Gables’ lawyer, Avrohom Gefen, told Newsday. "You can’t go back to an employer who punches you in the face twice. And that’s in addition to several months of abusive behavior."

He’s seeking monetary damages for lost back wages and potential future earnings because he charges Rhymes has had him blacklisted by the rap world, making it impossible to find another job in his field.

"He’s untouchable in the rap world and no one wants to cross Busta Rhymes," Gefen said.

Rhymes, who has been nominated 12 times for a Grammy, beginning with his 1997 song "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check," was recently honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.