Utah high school teacher Larry Deuel was making extra money chauffeuring five years ago when he got a star-studded assignment: drive musicians Post Malone and Tyla Yaweh to shoot an outdoor music video.
With the state’s iconic mountain landscape as their backdrop, Malone, Yaweh and friends rode ATVs. They swayed, sang, drank and smoked. Malone and Yaweh also sat in the stretch limousine Deuel had driven to the site.
Deuel didn’t expect to be in front of the camera, he says, but there he is in the video for “Tommy Lee.” He opens and closes the limo door for Yaweh. He unrolls a red carpet for the rapper to walk across. He’s seen standing stoically next to the black limo, with a brief close-up of his face.
And he’s now seeking millions in compensation — arguing he hasn’t been paid and that without him, the video shot on Malone’s ranch would have been “visually underwhelming, supported only by two unkempt musicians smoking blunts riding ATVs in a dirt field.”
Malone and Yaweh told Deuel he would be “taken care of” for his participation, Deuel claims in his suit, filed Friday in Utah’s 4th District Court against Malone, Sony Music and others.
Deuel says that never happened, and that he did not consent to having his likeness used in the first place. The 2020 music video has garnered 98 million views on YouTube.
A representative for Malone could not immediately be reached for comment.
Deuel’s lawsuit argues that his participation in the video is “critical” because it “supports the theme” of excessive fame, privilege and wealth.” Deuel is seen being there to “serve to their every need,” it states, “roll out a red carpet at all times and in all places, including a dirt field, and to cater to their fame and privilege as celebrity demigods.”
He attempted to contact Malone and others four times from 2020 to 2025 to settle the matter without litigation, the suit asserts. Most recently, he brought a letter to Malone’s home in August 2025, but the suit claims Malone’s security detail “laughed” at him.
Yaweh was discovered by Malone and signed to Epic Records in 2019. Malone has become something of a Utah favorite in recent years. He kicked off his first-ever stadium tour at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City earlier this year.