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A company fronted by legendary actor Whoopi Goldberg is in court over a stalled bid to launch a cannabis store in a working-class New Jersey city.
According to the Courier Post, Goldberg’s WhoopFam company is trading lawsuits with a nonprofit run by Joey Torres, a former mayor of Paterson, New Jersey, who served time in prison for corruption.
At issue is unpaid back rent Torres’ House of HOPE claims WhoopFam owes.
In return, WhoopFam claims Torres’ team misled it when they claimed the property was properly zoned and approved for a cannabis business.
Limited marijuana options in Paterson, NJ
There’s just on cannabis store in Paterson: a Green Thumb Industries location that formerly operated as a medical-only dispensary.
Efforts to permit at least three other businesses in July 2023 failed after it was determined all were too close to homes, schools or religious sites, the newspaper reported.
None of the three was WhoopFam.
Nevertheless, a state license in hand, WhoopFam leased real estate in Paterson in September 2023 from House of HOPE, a nonprofit Torres formed in 2019 after serving 13 months in prison.
The idea was a partnership that would see ex-offenders connected with cannabis industry jobs via WhoopFam’s retail store, the newspaper reported.
No local approval for Whoopi Goldberg-backed marijuana store
Those plans stalled when WhoopFam failed to receive local approval despite promises from Torres’ organization, according to court filings.
According to WhoopFam’s suit, Torres “indicated that he was absolutely sure that the subject property was already approved by the Paterson mayor and City Council” to be a cannabis business.
“Torres knew or should have known that his representation was not accurate,” WhoopFam’s July counterclaim states.
The counterclaim seeks more than $167,000 in expenses, including a $60,000 application fee paid to the city of Paterson, the newspaper reported.
The counterclaim followed a May lawsuit seeking $52,514 in unpaid rent from WhoopFam.
WhoopFam paid $5,665 in monthly lease payments to House of HOPE for a year but stopped in September 2024, the newspaper reported.
It’s not known how Torres and Goldberg became acquainted.
Torres served as Paterson mayor until 2017 when he pleaded guilty to corruption charges and was sentenced to prison.
He was convicted again in 2023 after mounting a reelection bid despite being barred from holding public office in the state.
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