The Real Reason Black Ink Crew's Alex Is Suing Teddy And Ceaser
Black Ink Crew is packed with love, heartbreak, friendship problems, and wild drama galore — all hallmarks of a great reality television show. It hits the spot after a long day at work or a lazy weekend, but legal problems are now entangling our favorite VH1 series and jeopardizing its future.
According to TMZ, Alex Robinson (pictured right) is suing co-stars Ceaser Emanuel (pictured left) and Teddy Ruks for battery over a 2018 fight that was caught on camera. Alex "claims the beatdown left him with permanent pain and disability" and wants more than $1 million in damages.
In show footage, Alex seemed to be on the fence about filing a lawsuit, but his girlfriend, Donna Lombardi, urges him to hit Ceaser where it hurts him most — his money and his tattoo business. "They need to suffer like how you suffered," she says on camera, calling it her "mission" to get payback. "Since he wants to take money out of your pocket, let's take money out of his pocket."
How did it get to this point? Let's rewind to that awful fight...
Alex didn't know if suing was 'the right thing to do'
A verbal argument during wedding festivities turned ugly fast. Video footage from the show (via The Shade Room,) captures Donna Lombardi trading tense words with Ceaser Emanuel. He rises from the table and approaches Alex Robinson, who is standing next to Donna and looking distressed. "You got something to say to me, man?" Ceaser asks as he approaches Alex. Moments later, arms are swinging and Alex is crashing backward over a table. Teddy Ruks appears to join the brawl too.
According to a subsequent episode of Black Ink Crew, Ceaser hired an investigator to determine if Alex was lying about his injuries. [The investigator] "told me Alex ain't even f**king faking it," Ceaser reveals to his sister. "...He can't pick his son up. He can't tattoo." Ceaser admits that he feels ashamed for doubting someone who'd looked up to him. "I did something that could possibly ruin this kid's life."
Per TMZ, Alex "suffered significant tendon and ligament damage to his back," but choosing to sue wasn't an easy decision. "I come from the streets, and I don't usually have the law helping me with my problems," Alex says on the show. "But making sure [his son] Cam has everything he needs trumps everything."
Only time will tell how this plays out and how it affects the TV series, but if the lawyer Alex met with is correct, he's got a strong case.
There could be trouble in paradise for Donna and Alex
Donna Lombardi seems heavily invested in Alex Robinson's case, and her motivations may extend beyond just being his boo thang. Remember that it was Donna who appeared to fuel Ceaser Emanuel's anger prior to the fight that injured Alex. According to Atlanta Black Star, Donna and Ceaser's animosity dates back to Season 6 of Black Ink Crew. That's when Ceaser fired Donna after she went off on him for appointing her nemesis, Tatiana, as a company vice president. Donna and Ceasar reportedly "got into a fiery verbal altercation, prompting [Donna] to mush his forehead."
It now appears that Donna and Alex's relationship is feeling the strain as well. After injuring his back during the fight, Donna treats her man to a surprise pottery class, but that date goes south quickly. The small chairs and tables at the class prove challenging for Alex to navigate with his back problems — an ordeal Donna makes worse by joking about Alex needing a high chair. Footage from the series shows Alex melting down, berating Donna, and questioning everything.
"You didn't think it through it all!" he says. "You should have thought this through. I should have thought through coming to Black Ink. I should have thought through going to the wedding ... Everything was not thought through and I'm the one that's got to deal with the repercussions now!." When an offended Donna asks Alex if he's blaming her, he doesn't miss a beat. "Yes, I'm blaming you!"
The stars of Black Ink Crew have dealt with lawsuits before
The stars of Black Ink Crew have been embroiled in legal drama before. In 2018, Ceaser Emanuel and his sister, JaKeita "Sky" Days were accused of transforming a rental home into "a house of ill repute," reported TMZ. The landlord claimed Sky broke her lease by filming scenes for the show in the home and by allowing Ceaser to use the property as a crash pad for his sexcapades.
Earlier that year, Ceaser was sued for allegedly pirating a Pay-Per-View boxing match and broadcasting it at his shop. According to TMZ, the fight's licensing company was seeking "more than $100,000 in damages."
Also in 2018, Ceaser's legal team had to deal with a customer seeking half a million dollars for an allegedly infected tattoo. Another lawsuit over an allegedly infected tattoo was dismissed in 2016 "because the woman had signed a waiver releasing the parlor from liability," per Reuters.
In 2014, the show was sued by Alexandra "Alex" Estevez, the shop's former receptionist, who claimed she quit after she was roofied for ratings. According to TMZ, the suit was filed "over a party episode that was shot in 2012 ("Mixxxy Madness") ... in which Alex appears extremely intoxicated and throws herself at [Ceaser]." Per TMZ, Alex "claims someone connected with production handed her a drink that contained a 'date rape drug' and it completely messed her up." That case was dismissed in 2015.