Obviously anything first seen in the New York Post’s Page Six has to be taken with a grain of salt. But this account on Jermaine Dupri’s ouster from Universal almost sounds plausible.

Jermaine Dupri has left the Universal Music building. Dupri was president of Island Records until he was unceremoniously booted on Wednesday. A source said, “After [his girlfriend] Janet Jackson’s album and tour bombed, he basically didn’t come back to work. He still collected a paycheck, but didn’t bother to do anything that he was supposed to do, like find artists, release records or actually show up. Executives tried to talk to him, but he just lost heart.” Dupri was widely blamed for Jackson’s album flop as he insisted on letting her get her way on song selection and production of the release, “Discipline.” The spy adds, “Very few producers have turned into good executives, with the exception of Dr. Dre.” A rep for Dupri’s boss, Island/Def Jam head L.A. Reid, declined to comment.

I’m almost willing to believe this with the amount of time he spends parading around with Bow Wow. He may have been signed to So So Def, but he’s not tied to Universal at all. It would at least have been smart to move him and Q Da Kid over to one of the subsidiaries over there. At least make it look like you were doing something. You might have been bummed about Discipline, but damn near everybody flopped last year.

And with the rise of email, video conferencing, cell phones, & mp3′s who needs to be sitting in an office everyday anyway? But other than Tag Records, I’m not too sure what “work” he’s been up to lately however I would be envious of him if he did collect a check for doing absolutely nothing. With the way the industry is slowly falling apart, you better get that T.I. money while you can.

So while there probably is a sliver of truth in that rumor, it’s still funny to picture JD at home laying on the couch with his head in Damita Jo’s lap.  Plotting what label they’ll convince to take them as a package deal and get one last fat check before riding off into the sunset, listening to Bow Wow demos as the backdrop.

Song Ends For Dupri [NY Post]

Previously Posted — “Negro Please…”