L-R: Judge Mark W. Klingensmith, Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz, and Judge Burton C. Conner. Courtesy photos

It's back to court for Tramar Dillard, who goes by the stage name Flo Rida, after a Florida appeals court ruled that a Broward trial court judge erred in his jury instructions when awarding $82.6 million in a breach of contract lawsuit against the makers of Celsius energy drinks in January 2023.

Celsius appealed the jury verdict, claiming the trial court erroneously allowed the appellees to pursue an improper measure of damages, specifically the stock valuation at the time of trial rather than the date of the alleged breach of contract. The case will now return to Broward Judge David Haimes' courtroom.

Broward Judge David Haimes in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Photo: Melanie Bell for ALM


The rapper's Hialeah-based company Strong Arm Productions USA Inc., and Wellington-based D3M Licensing Group, which was involved in arranging the endorsement deals in 2014 and 2016, sued Celsius for violating the contact parameters allegedly refusing to pay Dillard, who says he took the brand from obscurity to an omnipresent drink product currently on store shelves.