EXCLUSIVE: Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez Wins Sanctions After Daughter Destroyed Evidence

Desiree Perez won sanctions against her daughter, Demoree Hadley, after a federal judge found that Hadley deliberately destroyed evidence in their family legal battle.

U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom’s October 12 order gave the Roc Nation CEO an advantage if the dispute reaches a jury. Bloom refused to dismiss Hadley’s remaining claims, but ordered a jury instruction that presumes the missing evidence helped Perez and hurt her daughter.

The judge found that deleted messages and an alleged listening device were crucial to Perez’s defense against Hadley’s surveillance claims. Their destruction prevented Perez from investigating material her daughter had a duty to preserve.

Bloom explained her decision, referring to the lost texts, photos and videos as electronically stored information, or ESI: “Here, as Hadley testified, her deletion of text messages, photos, and videos, and destruction of the alleged listening device was not accidental or merely negligent. Rather, she voluntarily deleted the ESI and intentionally threw out the alleged listening device. Hadley should have known the listening device would need to be inspected and should have known to preserve the ESI. Instead, Hadley deleted the content from her phone and turned over only what she thought was relevant. Therefore, spoliation exists, warranting sanctions.”

The order cited Hadley’s testimony that she deleted more than 130,000 photos and videos but kept images of her grandparents. Hadley said she cleared her phone to free storage and wiped her iCloud account to prevent access she believed was illegal.

The mother-daughter dispute began when Hadley was detained in March 2024.

She sued in May 2025, claiming that Perez and others misused Florida’s Baker Act and Marchman Act to hold her in mental health facilities for nearly two weeks. Those laws cover involuntary mental health evaluation and substance abuse treatment.

Hadley accused her mother of using those proceedings to separate her from husband Javon Hadley.

Perez denied wrongdoing and said she acted to protect her daughter’s safety. She also sued Javon, alleging abuse that the couple denied.