Suge Knight Tightens Belt

MAY 17--How tough have things gotten financially for Marion 'Suge' Knight? Well, the bankrupt rap music titan expects to soon downgrade to a $10,000-a-month rental. In a sworn declaration filed last month in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Knight details his monthly expenses, which total $51,000. The 42-year-old Knight reports recently moving out of 'the unit' he was renting for about $11,000 monthly, adding that he expected his future rent to be 'at least $10,000.00/month.' While the majority of his monthly nut is listed as 'Support,' other records indicate that Knight has not been paying court-ordered child support payments (for four children by three women) and is in arrears for $545,681. But Knight's declaration, a copy of which you'll find below, indicates that he may try to raise some cash via a legal claim stemming from a 2005 shooting in Florida. In August of that year, Knight, who has long been affiliated with the Bloods street gang, was shot in the leg while attending a party hosted by rapper Kanye West at the swanky Shore Club in Miami (Knight was in town for the MTV Music Awards). The shooting, for which no arrests have been made, cost Knight $200,000 in hospital, physical therapy, private plane, and other expenses, according to the court declaration. 'Any monies that I am able to recover from the proceeds of the personal injury claim...would be needed by me to support my living expenses and to support my children,' Knight noted. (3 pages)