French Montana can’t shake off a six-figure court judgment owed to a landscaper who claims the musician’s Tibetan mountain dog, also known as a Tibetan mastiff, “viciously” mauled him while the rapper-producer watched in horror, a Los Angeles judge has ruled.
The ruling came after the “Unforgettable” rapper failed to convince the court that he didn’t know about the man’s underlying lawsuit until it was too late, meaning after landscaper Jason Leyva had been granted a $402,644 default judgment last October. The musician, whose real name is Karim Kharbouch, said in filings leading up to the order that his delinquency in responding to Leyva’s claims should be forgiven because he moved out California, where the incident happened, so he was never served in person. He also believed he previously settled the matter with the man, he told the court.
While the judge initially sided with Kharbouch in a tentative ruling obtained by Rolling Stone, the judge reversed course after a hearing last Wednesday, where Leyva’s lawyer convinced him to reconsider. In a revised ruling issued late last week, the judge said Kharbouch “failed to establish excusable neglect.” He said the artist had the burden of proving the settlement was real if he wanted to use it as the basis for his excusable neglect claim. The judge said no settlement documents were provided. Leyva, meanwhile, claims he never signed a settlement, so any such document would be a forgery. He says any funds wired to him were for his contracted services, not related to the dog attack.
In a sworn statement, Leyva previously told the court that the mauling took place on Nov. 3, 2019, shortly after Kharbouch invited him into a gated yard and assured him the Tibetan mountain dog wouldn’t harm him. Leyva says he was discussing a proposed project with Kharbouch when the dog jumped up, bit down on his shoulder, and knocked him to the ground.
“French was yelling at the dog to let go and hitting the dog trying to stop him. When the dog finally let go of [my] shoulder, it did not stop attacking and instead immediately sank his teeth into my hip,” Leyva wrote. “French acknowledged the severity of the attack and told me that he would take care of my medical bills. I said that I was not okay, and as soon as I was able to do so, I left the premises and was driven straight to the hospital where my deep lacerations required multiple sutures, and I was prescribed powerful antibiotics to combat infection.”
In his own statement to the court last month, Kharbouch said he was not aware of the lawsuit prior to the default judgment. “I understand that there was also an attempt to serve me by publication. I never saw any publication about this lawsuit,” he wrote.
Leyva’s lawyer disputes the claim Kharbouch was in the dark, pointing to an appearance Kharbouch made on the Way Up With Angela Yee podcast on Feb. 23, 2024, where the artist referenced a report that Leyva was seeking $2.3 million. “I just saw somebody tried to sue me for my dog biting him for $2 million. Like, yo, did a dinosaur bite you?” Kharbouch joked.
Speaking to Rolling Stone on Monday, Kharbouch’s lawyer said his side isn’t giving up. He said the judge’s tentative order was the correct one, based on the law, so he was “surprised” when the court ultimately ruled in favor of Leyva. “We will ask the judge to reconsider,” lawyer Dariush Adli tells Rolling Stone. “If he won’t, we’ll recommend to our client that we appeal. If the judge maintains his position, we are confident this will be overturned on appeal.”
In his filings, Kharbouch alleges he entered into a financial settlement with Leyva on Aug. 16, 2020, paying him a confidential sum of money via a wire transfer on Aug. 19, 2020. He claims the agreement included a full release of liability from the incident.
Leyva vehemently disputes this claim, saying he was only paid for his landscaping work and was out of the country in Mexico with family at the time of the alleged settlement. He says he never signed anything and that Kharbouch didn’t even have his email address at the time, only his phone number.
“After the dog bite, I was in extreme pain and had trouble with basic activities, including walking and caring for my baby daughter,” he wrote in his declaration to the court. Leyva included screen shots of text messages with Kharbouch’s assistant where the assistant appeared to admit liability. Leyva’s court filings say he was “savagely” attacked by a dog that was known to be “vicious.”
“In discussions after the incident, I was asked if $50,000 would be enough to compensate me for my injuries, but I did not accept the offer,” Leyva previously told the court.
“The court’s ruling was just, reasonable, and based on the evidence submitted by plaintiff in his opposition papers and plaintiff’s oral argument at the time of the hearing. My client’s incident was the third reported dog attack (three unrelated claims) on unsuspecting laborers/service men. Mr. Leyva was invited and lawfully on the property with the full knowledge of the defendant,” Leyva’s lawyer, Marc Katzman, tells Rolling Stone. “Contrary to the motion and his sworn declaration, French Montana was present at the time of the dog attack involving Mr. Levya and he was patently aware of the lawsuit for at least a year before filing his motion.”
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