Fugees Member Officially Quits Group: Pras Michael Exits in Wake of Conviction

The Fugees drama is never ending. Months after the group canceled its highly anticipated reunion tour, Pras Michel has exited the group. He’s currently facing 22 years in prison after being convicted of 10 counts last April of illegal lobbying and money laundering, including the $4.5 billion looting of a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund known as 1MDB and violating campaign finance laws during Obama’s 2012 re-election bid. 

In his first interview since his conviction, he opened up about everything. “I don’t know if subconsciously it was a bit exciting for me too,” Michél tells Variety. “I like spy movies but I never wanted to be a spy. I don’t think that’s sexy. But a part of it felt like that.”

He also says his work with The Fugees is over. The third member of the iconic hip hop trio filed a lawsuit against bandmate Lauryn Hill in October, accusing her of defrauding him of proceeds from the group’s shortened 2023 reunion tour and “gross mismanagement” after Hill canceled the North American leg of the follow-up 2024 tour. Now he says he won’t join the group on the European leg of the tour in any capacity.

“I’m done with that. They’re going to Europe [to tour]. I can’t go, so… It’s what it is. You can’t give people that kind of energy. So you could be frustrated, you could be disappointed, but I really believe in my path and in my journey, and I believe what’s mine, no one’s going to be able to take it away from me. So it’s better that you have a small group of people who really believe in you and believe in what you’re doing than to have 100 people around you, and the minute something happens — boom. People just disappear.”