YouTuber Jake Paul has once again found himself accused of untoward behavior, and this time there’s a $2.5 million asking price attached to the accusation.
Paul has been named among the defendants in a lawsuit filed by a company that says it leased its property to Paul and others, only to have the property trashed.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, Cobra Acquisitions entered into a lease agreement with Paul and others in 2016. The property, described as “a multi-million dollar single family home located in an upscale neighborhood,” initially fetched a monthly rent of $17,495, with the rent increased to $20,000 in August 2017, with the security deposit increased to $40,000.
“During the time that Defendants occupied the Subject Property, Defendants used the Subject Property for commercial purposes shooting YouTube videos and performing various stunts at the Subject Property,” the suit reads, adding that they hosted “large parties and attracted a social media following” to the property.
According to the suit, Paul and the others caused “extensive damage” at the property.
“Defendants performed a number of dangerous and damaging stunts at the Subject Property including lighting fires in the backyard, filling the pool with cereal, draining the pool and lighting a fire in the pool, hosting parties at the roof, installing a trampoline on the roof, and making holes in the interior walls of the Subject Property,” the suit reads. “There was such extensive damage throughout the Subject Property, Defendants took it upon themselves to make repairs and install a new floor, among other things. Such extensive remodeling of the Subject Property took place without Plaintiff’s prior written or oral approval.”
On top of it all, the suit says, while Paul and the others were leasing the place, “neighbors contacting Plaintiff alleging a nuisance was taking place because of the large number of people coming and going, the Fire Department going to the Subject Property as a result of large fires in the backyard, and the general large commotion from the Subject Property.”
TheWrap has reached out to Paul’s spokeswoman for comment on the suit. A legal representative for Paul told TMZ, “There’s no allegation regarding the actual amount of damages other than the request for punitive damages. That’s because the damages were minimal compared to the amount they’re asking. They say they want punitive damages because they say they didn’t know Jake would use the house for his pranks, but the original lease states it’s for Jake’s personal use.”
The legal representative added, “After more than a year, when they presumably would have known all about the pranks, instead of asking him to leave they raised the rent and increased the security deposit. Something doesn’t add up.”
Alleging breach of written contract, negligence, intentional misrepresentation and, um, waste, the suit seeks a number of damages, including “punitive and exemplary damages in an amount of at least $2.5 million.”
In January, Paul made headlines when TMZ published video of him using the n-word while rapping a freestyle to Rae Sremmurd’s “Throw Sum Mo.” The outlet said that the video was taken eight months prior during Coachella weekend.
Paul appears to say the n-word twice during the cellphone-shot video. Around the seven-second mark, he says “little ass n—,” and near the end of the video, he says “I whip it like my n— Richie Vetter, he make the p–y so wet it gets wetter.”
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.