Pharrell Williams sued by former Neptunes member Chad Hugo over alleged unpaid royalties
Pharrell Williams’ legal battles with former Neptunes and N.E.R.D. partner Chad Hugo continue with a new suit over alleged unpaid royalties.
Attorneys for Hugo filed a lawsuit on 23rd January accusing Williams of withholding royalties and documentation that would confirm how much Hugo is owed for N.E.R.D. and Neptunes album sales, namely the 2017 N.E.R.D. album ‘No One Ever Really Dies’, Billboard reports. “Williams engaged in self-dealing, concealed material information, and … diverted revenues owed to plaintiff”, Hugo’s attorney Brent J. Lehman wrote. “Such willful, fraudulent and malicious conduct warrants the imposition of punitive damages.”
Hugo’s lawyers claim there is “‘systemic denial’ of his rights as a partner” and he’s owed up to $1 million in damages just related to the 2017 LP. “Plaintiff has not received his appropriate share of royalties in connection with The Neptunes and N.E.R.D.’s album sales and released music, as well as distributions from touring income, and various merchandising deals”, Lehman wrote. “…Defendant Williams’ persistent failure to provide [financial records] constitutes a breach of the operating agreement… Plaintiff has been deprived of the transparency necessary to evaluate buyout proposals, confirm the calculation and categorization of distributions owed to him… and assess revenues.”
A representative for Williams told Billboard: “The lawsuit filed is premature as there may not even be a dispute between the parties… If the accounting review determines that money is owed, the appropriate party will pay it. Pharrell has consistently acted in good faith. He has great respect for Chad and looks forward to resolving this in a way that honours their shared history.”
This new lawsuit expands upon Hugo’s lawyers’ April 2024 filing against Williams’ “fraudulent” “attempt[s] to unilaterally register trademarks for the Neptunes name”. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that September, Williams confirmed he and Hugo are no longer on speaking terms. One year prior, in August 2023, Pharrell Williams said he was working on new N.E.R.D. music in a GQ interview with Tyler, the Creator.
Hugo and Williams had been friends since childhood in Virginia Beach. The Neptunes were most active as a hit-making songwriting and production duo from the mid ’90s, peaking in the 2000s. They teased a reunion and comeback singles ‘Entrepreneur‘ with Jay-Z in 2020 and ‘Green Juice‘ with A$AP Ferg in 2021. As N.E.R.D., Williams and Hugo started the hip-hop project with Shay Haley in 1994, went on hiatus from 2005-’08, then released studio albums in 2010, ‘Nothing’, and 2017, ‘No One Ever Really Dies’.
In other recent legal news, Calvin Harris won $13.5 million in part of arbitration proceedings for his fraud case against former business manager Thomas St. John and a “boondoggle” real estate project.
