Major Whiskey Brand in Crisis Is Accused of Hiding a $20 Million Loan Tied to Jay‑Z

Major Whiskey Brand in Crisis Is Accused of Hiding a $20 Million Loan Tied to Jay‑Z

A lender says Uncle Nearest routed the investment through another company to keep the money out of creditors’ reach.

A $20M Loan Tied To Jay-Z Is Now At The Center Of Uncle Nearest’s Legal Fight

By Andrea Bossi ·Updated March 10, 2026 Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… 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 E…

Jay-Z VC Firm’s $20M Loan Questioned Amid Uncle Nearest Receivership

An investment from Jay-Z is being put into question in the latest legal filing surrounding Uncle Nearest. The whiskey brand launched by Fawn Weaver and her husband, Keith, is under receivership after defaulting on more than $108 million in loans from Farm Credit Mid-America, as AFROTECH previously reported. The receivership encompasses Uncle Nearest’s Shelbyville, TN distillery, real estate holdings, intellectual property, affiliated ventures, a…

Uncle Nearest Debt Fight Exposes $100M Loan Dispute and Jay-Z Linked Financing

Uncle Nearest Founder and CEO Fawn Weaver knows how to tell a story. Years ago the world fell in love with the story she helped bring to light. The story of Nearest Green, the enslaved distiller who taught Jack Daniel the charcoal filtering technique known as the Lincoln County Process, a defining step in Tennessee whiskey. Weaver built an entire whiskey empire honoring that legacy. And for years, people rooted for her. We watched Uncle Nearest …