BY Jose Martinez Stop! Lawsuit time!
A publishing giant is suing famously broke rapper MC Hammer for a $61,000 advance it paid him for a book he never wrote.
Simon & Schuster says the "Too Legit To Quit" rapper - whose real name is Stanley Kirk Burrell - flatout quit when it came to writing "Enemies of the Father: A Message from the Heart On Being a Family Man."
"We never got the manuscript," said Adam Rothberg, a spokesman for Simon & Schuster, which made the deal with Hammer in 2002. "So, in 2004, we canceled the contract and we're seeking to get the advance back."
That could be tough, considering Hammer filed for bankruptcy in 1996 after suffering a spectacular financial crash and burn.
In January, the man who made "Stop! Hammertime!" a catch phrase joined fellow down-on-his-luck star Ed McMahon in a Super Bowl ad for Cash4Gold.com.
"I could get cash for this gold medallion of me wearing a gold medallion!" Hammer cracked during the commercial, in which he also joked about cashing in on "my gold sledgehammer, baby" and "my gold pants."
Hammer made more than $30 million in the early 1990s with hits like "U Can't Touch This" and "Pumps and A Bump." He then sunk into a financial abyss in which he lost his millions, along with a mansion, his horses and a fleet of luxury cars.
Hammer pooh-poohed the the book suit. "It was for a book we were working on six years ago, and now I'm going another direction," Hammer told the Daily News. "The lawyers will settle it and it's on to the next thing. I wish them the best." Hammer now writes for his fans on his blog and through a Twitter account.
jmartinez@edit.nydailynews.com
A publishing giant is suing famously broke rapper MC Hammer for a $61,000 advance it paid him for a book he never wrote.
Simon & Schuster says the "Too Legit To Quit" rapper - whose real name is Stanley Kirk Burrell - flatout quit when it came to writing "Enemies of the Father: A Message from the Heart On Being a Family Man."
"We never got the manuscript," said Adam Rothberg, a spokesman for Simon & Schuster, which made the deal with Hammer in 2002. "So, in 2004, we canceled the contract and we're seeking to get the advance back."
That could be tough, considering Hammer filed for bankruptcy in 1996 after suffering a spectacular financial crash and burn.
In January, the man who made "Stop! Hammertime!" a catch phrase joined fellow down-on-his-luck star Ed McMahon in a Super Bowl ad for Cash4Gold.com.
"I could get cash for this gold medallion of me wearing a gold medallion!" Hammer cracked during the commercial, in which he also joked about cashing in on "my gold sledgehammer, baby" and "my gold pants."
Hammer made more than $30 million in the early 1990s with hits like "U Can't Touch This" and "Pumps and A Bump." He then sunk into a financial abyss in which he lost his millions, along with a mansion, his horses and a fleet of luxury cars.
Hammer pooh-poohed the the book suit. "It was for a book we were working on six years ago, and now I'm going another direction," Hammer told the Daily News. "The lawyers will settle it and it's on to the next thing. I wish them the best." Hammer now writes for his fans on his blog and through a Twitter account.
jmartinez@edit.nydailynews.com
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