Busta Rhymes Settles With Assistant He Allegedly Punched for Using Phone on the Job
The settlement will end a lawsuit from Dashiel Gables that claimed the star assaulted him in a Brooklyn high-rise over a phone call from his daughter.
Black News 
Busta Rhymes has reached a legal settlement with a former assistant who claimed in a lawsuit that the rapper punched him in the face for using his cell phone on the job.
Rhymes (Trevor Smith Jr.) was hit with an assault lawsuit last summer from Dashiel Gables, who briefly worked as the rapper’s personal assistant. The star then countersued for defamation, calling the case “an attempted shakedown” from a “disgruntled” staffer.
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But in court filings on Thursday (April 30), a judge said the two sides had “reached a settlement in principle” to end the entire legal battle. She ordered them to finalize the deal by June and submit it to her for approval.
Terms of the agreement, such as any money exchanged, were not made public. Neither side immediately returned a request for more details.
Rhymes was arrested in January 2025 over the alleged attack in the lobby of the star’s luxury Brooklyn high-rise. At the time, police said the rapper had punched the 50-year-old staffer in the face multiple times, sending him to the hospital. Court records do not indicate that prosecutors ended up pursuing charges over the incident.
Gables sued in August, claiming the assault was sparked by a phone call from his daughter while he was unloading Busta’s luggage. Though Gables said he ignored the call, he claims he responded via text message, sending Rhymes “into a rage” during which the star allegedly screamed, “Stay the f–k off your phone” and then attacked him.
After filing a police report, Gables said the star retaliated by ensuring that nobody else would hire him. “This industry-wide retaliation has devastated plaintiff’s career prospects and ability to earn a living in the only industry in which he has worked,” his lawyers wrote.
Rhymes “completely and categorically” denied the allegations, and two months later filed counterclaims in which he accused Gables of harming his reputation by making them.
“Smith did not assault or batter Gables,” Rhymes’ lawyers wrote at the time. “Gables knew the statements were false, or acted with reckless disregard for the truth, including by fabricating allegations of criminal conduct and violence, omitting exculpatory facts and deliberately ignoring contrary evidence.”
The case saw little action after that, though. It was paused in January in favor of mediation and has largely remained on ice as the parties worked on a settlement. On Wednesday (April 29), attorneys for both sides alerted the judge that they had “settled this matter in private mediation” earlier in the month.
