Xzibit’s ex-wife claims in a new lawsuit that the rapper illegally sold away their stake in a cannabis brand that she says she worked tirelessly to monetize while he was doing drugs and having an affair.
Krista Joiner, who was married to Xzibit (Alvin Joiner) from 2014 to 2021, made the allegations in a Thursday (Jan. 15) civil complaint in California federal court. Krista and the former Pimp My Ride host are officially divorced but still litigating the division of assets, meaning a restraining order prohibits them from selling joint property without each other’s consent.
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Krista alleges Xzibit violated this restraining order by unilaterally selling their joint stake in the cannabis business Brass Knuckles, including three trademarks, for $724,000 in 2023. Krista got nothing from this sale and didn’t even learn about it until a year later, the lawsuit claims.
“To this day, Krista Joiner has not consented to the sale of the Brass Knuckles brand, nor has she been asked by anyone for her consent to any sale or assignment of her community property interest,” reads the lawsuit.
Krista and Xzibit co-founded Brass Knuckles in 2016 and found immense success, according to the lawsuit, which claims the brand was valued at more than $100 million by 2018. Krista says that while Xzibit served as the public face of Brass Knuckles, she did all the hard work of managing employees, developing products, designing marketing strategies and generating sales.
“[Krista] was instrumental in ensuring that the operations of the brand began and continued smoothly, given that her then-husband had no business experience other than as a rapper from the 1990’s and a part-time actor with a cancelled show, who smoked marijuana constantly and who had filed for bankruptcy twice,” reads the lawsuit.
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According to the lawsuit, Krista filed for divorce in 2021 after learning that Xzibit had been “carrying on a long-term adulterous affair” for years. The rapper allegedly sold their joint stake in Brass Knuckles in 2023 to a cannabis company called Hero Brands, which Krista says is now selling marijuana products under the brand name without her permission.
The new federal lawsuit brings trademark infringement and conversion claims against Hero Brands. Xzibit himself is not named in the complaint, though he and Krista are scheduled to go to trial in their divorce case this spring.
“It has been Alvin Joiner’s stated mission to run Krista Joiner into the ground financially, strip her of all her community property and separate property assets, announcing that ‘no more Kardashian lifestyle,’ and to strip her of her rightful beneficial ownership and economic interest in the marks,” reads the lawsuit. “Therefore, any demand on Alvin Joiner would be futile, and the only remedy available to return the Brass Knuckles brand to the community is a judicial remedy that corrects the ownership status of the marks.”
Reps for Xzibit and Hero Brands did not immediately return requests for comment on Tuesday (Jan. 20).
