The subpoenas may reveal who’s to blame for Gold Jay Z’s failure – Shawn Carter or Parlux Fragrances.

Six years ago, Parlux Fragances entered into a deal with Jay-Z – real name Shawn Carter – to produce a new men’s fragrance line called ‘Gold Jay Z’.

The fragrance line, unfortunately, failed to catch on.  Both blamed the other for Gold Jay Z’s failure.

Taking Carter to court, Parlux and its parent company, Perfumania Holdings, say the rapper/entrepreneur failed to sufficiently promote the product.

Now, both Carter and Parlux have asked a New York judge to sign off on subpoenas related to similar deals for Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, and Vince Camuto.

Taking on the fragrance industry.

On Monday, both asked Judge Charles Ramos to authorize subpoenas on the three celebrity companies.

An affidavit reveals Jay-Z’s lawyer wants information on “sales, sales forecasts, the effect of personal promotional appearances made by [each celebrity] on sales, and the effect of the introduction of new lines of fragrances on sales.”

In a separate filing, both parties said,

“The requested information, which relates to a comparable license agreement for a celebrity fragrance, is relevant and material both to defending against plaintiffs’ liability claims and the damages they claim pursuant thereto and to defendants’ counterclaims.”

The move comes two years after Parlux filed a lawsuit against Carter.  The company seeks $18 million.  Jay-Z’s schedule was apparently too full at the time to promote the product.

Carter countersued, saying the perfume company owes him $2.7 million due to a breach of agreement.  He added that Parlux failed to pay royalties and devote enough resources and cash to the Gold Jay Z line.

Source: Digital Music News