Flo Rida was awarded $82.6 million in damages Wednesday after a jury found that an energy drink maker breached a contract it had with him.
A Broward County jury awarded the sum to the rapper nearly two years after he and his company Strong Arm Productions sued Celsius Holdings Inc. in May 2021, when he claimed the company violated an endorsement deal from the mid-2010s.
"Basically, I helped birth this company, and all we was looking for was some trustworthy people who acted as if they were family," the rapper, real name Tramar Dillard, told The Associated Press. "And then when it comes down to the success of today, they just forgot about me."
As the publication reports, Flo Rida was a brand ambassador from 2014 to 2018, with a civil complaint claiming that his involvement introduced the company to a wider audience.
The company's lawyers, however, argued during the case that the company reached its greatest success when the endorsement deal ended and that an increase in sales and stock value were a result of other dealings, per the AP.
"Celsius is disappointed with the result and disagrees with the jury's verdict, we intend to appeal based on several grounds," a spokesperson for Celsius tells PEOPLE. "This decision doesn't take away from all Celsius has accomplished over the last several years and we look forward to achieving continued success and delivering quality products to our customers."
Flo Rida's attorney John Uustal, said during closing arguments that the "Right Round" rapper was looking for the 1% ownership he was promised. His legal team also argued that the partnership allowed Celsius to grow its product portfolio, including a powder product and a line called Celsius Heat.
Over $27 million of the damages awarded to Flo Rida represent 250,000 shares in Celsius, which the musician said were owed to him, per Forbes.
The Miami New Times also shared that since Celsius first hit the NASDAQ exchange in 2017, it is now trading for more than $106 per share, while each share was worth less than $1 when Flo Rida's partnership began.
Rapper #FloRida was awarded over $82 million on Wednesday in his legal battle against the Celsius energy drink company over a botched endorsement deal. A Florida jury sided with the rapper, who claimed Celsius breached the agreement and did not fulfill their end of the deal. pic.twitter.com/4QjjcuH7ac
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) January 18, 2023
"He loved the product, and it's been a very successful four-year relationship," Uustal told the AP. "There were some benchmarks. He was supposed to get stock when certain things happened. And there became a dispute about whether those benchmarks had been reached. So that's what this was about."
After Flo Rida's win in court, the musician shared a celebratory post on Instagram featuring various photos of him in court, soundtracked by his 2022 song "What a Night." In some images, Flo Rida could be seen holding cans of Celsius.
"I'm still an owner in the company," Flo Rida told the AP. "And when you basically planted the seed for something that is successful, you can't help but have unconditional love."
