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Uncle Nearest and its lender Farm Credit Mid-America have been embroiled in a legal battle for several months. In the latest court update, the Kentucky-based creditor accused the Keith and Fawn Weaver-owned whiskey brand of fraud for, allegedly, trying to hide a $20 million loan from Jay-Z.

News first broke late February that the Black-owned whiskey company — which ESSENCE previously reported is financially insolvent and owes millions of dollars to external parties — may have tried to hide $20 million from lenders in a linked entity. In a Feb. filing, Uncle Nearest’s court-appointed receiver Phillip G. Young Jr. highlighted the Weaver-owned Grant Sidney company, flagging it was used in an attempt to hide assets from Farm Credit, including $20 million in loans, arranged by Fawn Weaver. 

Per Farm Credit’s recent filing, Fawn Weaver told the lender that the $20 million was a loan from her Grant Sidney company, but Farm Credit alleges that it came from another source: MP-Tenn LLC, also known as MarcyPen Capital Partners. This is the venture capital firm owned and founded by Jay-Z and a handful of business partners.

Farm Credit Mid-America said the Weavers “egregiously mischaracterized” the disputed transaction, per Lexington Herald-Leader reporting. 

“The Weaver Parties attempt to imply (incorrectly) that FCMA was in no way misled at the time. FCMA was considerably misled,” the bank continued in filings. “Whatever protestations Ms. Weaver makes now to the contrary do not change the fact that MarcyPen loaned money to Uncle Nearest, Inc., not Grant Sidney. Ms. Weaver, who exercises complete control over Uncle Nearest and Grant Sidney, moved the proceeds from Uncle Nearest to Grant Sidney to make sure that $20 million coming in could not be snatched by [FCMA].” MarcyPen said Uncle Nearest is in default on its loan.

Uncle Nearest currently is at risk of foreclosure and is in the middle of asset liquidation, including a Martha’s Vineyard property.

“No fraud by Grant Sidney has been alleged with the particularity required for a federal pleading. The assertion that Uncle Nearest engaged in fraudulent conduct relating to the MP-Tenn transaction is not correct,” the Weavers said in a recent filing. Fawn Weaver, who is currently starring as a Guest Shark on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” previously called the suit “attempted robbery in broad daylight” in a mid-February video. 

This case began late July 2025, when Farm Credit filed a lawsuit against Uncle Nearest Inc. and the Weavers. The whiskey company’s main creditor claimed it was owed $108 million and alleged the spirits company had been in default on its loans since as early as January 2024. Uncle Nearest was placed under Young’s court-ordered receivership in August 2025. 

Though the Weavers have been arguing in court for control back of their company, the receiver has unearthed various issues. It owes nearly $200 million, according to him. He also claimed the company was worth closer to $100 million, a fraction of the billion-dollar valuation it signaled years before. Young found the whiskey brand’s records before 2024 were deleted, that it struggled to make payroll, and that it hadn’t filed federal tax returns since 2018, per The New York Times. 

A decision on the future of the receivership and the emergency sale of the Martha’s Vineyard property is expected soon from U.S. District Judge Charles. E. Atchley Jr. 

The post A $20M Loan Tied To Jay-Z Is Now At The Center Of Uncle Nearest’s Legal Fight appeared first on Essence.

Author: Kimberly Wilson

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