Barry Hankerson and his label Blackground Music LLC have reached a settlement agreement in the multi-million dollar lawsuit filed against them by Toni Braxton.

The settlement “requires Braxton to return to Blackground Records a $375,000 advance she received on December 27, 2006, and further provides for compensating Blackground Records by paying to it a percentage of the net sales of Braxton’s next album.”

“When Barry Hankerson began working with Toni Braxton in 1997, he loaned her a substantial amount of money to assist her in dealing with a much publicized bankruptcy. As her manager, he negotiated a contract on her behalf with Arista Records that paid her an advance of $23,000,000. However, after only two albums, Arista released her from her contract. At Braxton’s behest, Hankerson signed Braxton to Blackground Records, where she released only one of the three albums she committed to,” says an insider.

“This settlement allows Ms. Braxton immediately to start new projects of her choice,” said Peter L. Haviland, her trial lawyer. “She wanted to end her relationship with Blackground and Barry Hankerson, and she has. Money has never been what motivates her. Integrity — artistic and personal — does.”

“My freedom from Barry Hankerson is priceless, and means everything to me,” T.B says.

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