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LAWSUIT: Jay Z

JAY Z CAN add a lawsuit to his existing 99 problems after learning he is being sued for $18 million (£12.6 million) for failing to promote his celebrity fragrance Gold Jay Z.

According to NY Daily News, perfume distributor Parlux Fragrances filed the lawsuit at a Manhattan Supreme Court accusing the hip-hop mogul of failing to attend a number of meetings and promotional events.

Gold Jay Z quietly made its debut in October 2013 and quickly became the best-selling celebrity fragrance of that year.

However, last year sales declined from a projected $35 million (£24.5 million) to $6.1 million (£4.25 million).

The lawsuit claims that Jay Z, real name Shawn Carter, was expected to have made at least six promotional appearances including one on Good Morning America, an interview with Women's Wear Daily and at department store giants Macy's but allegedly failed to attend a single event.

According to the legal papers, Parlux lawyer Anthony Viola says the company teamed up with renowned celebrity diamond dealer, Jacob the Jeweller, to create five prototypes of perfume bottles for the fragrance.

BAD PROMOTION: Jay Z's fragrance, Gold

Each one had 18- carat solid gold caps and gold detail on the exterior costing an estimated $20,000 (£14,000) each to create.

"Mr. Carter rejected all of them and kept the prototype," court papers say.

The lawsuit says the initial soft launch was very successful but "in the fragrance industry, it is virtually impossible to sustain the success of a celebrity fragrance" without both celebrity promotional appearance and "regularly updating and refreshing the brand” with off shoot fragrances.

The company claims that despite offering Carter and his business management team numerous options, the rapper skipped meetings and failed to sign off on any new variants of the once successful fragrance costing the company millions in research and developments costs.

Parlux Fragrances wants the courts to order Carter to return the $2 million (£1.4 million) payment he received as an up front royalty fee and at least $16 million (£11.2 million) in compensatory damages.

A standard 30ml bottle of the men’s fragrance retails in the UK for £15 in Superdrugs and is advertised as fragrance inspired by an ‘icon’.