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2 months ago

Neptunes Legal Battle: Chad Hugo Sues Pharrell Williams in Bitter Split

The legendary production duo The Neptunes are embroiled in a legal dispute as Chad Hugo sues Pharrell Williams, alleging financial misconduct. Plus, Drake's 'Not Like Us' appeal and more in this week's Legal Beat.

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Neptunes Legal Battle: **Chad Hugo** Sues **Pharrell Williams** in Bitter Split

THE BIG STORY: From Nelly's "Hot in Herre" to Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot," Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl," and Justin Timberlake's "Rock Your Body," The Neptunes, the iconic duo of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, have shaped the sound of the mid-2000s. However, decades later, their lucrative partnership has devolved into a legal battle over finances.

In a lawsuit filed last week, Hugo accuses Williams – his friend since childhood in Virginia – of “willful, fraudulent, and malicious conduct.” He claims he's been excluded from their joint company and that Pharrell may owe him as much as $1 million from an N.E.R.D. album.

For complete details, read the full story here for a comprehensive breakdown of the case, a response from Pharrell, and access to the legal documents filed by Hugo.

You’re reading The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings, and all the fun stuff in between. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday, subscribe here.

Other Top Stories This Week…

  • Drake filed his hotly-anticipated appeal seeking to revive his lawsuit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” arguing that a judge’s ruling dismissing it was “dangerous.” Read more here.

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  • An Italian photographer has dropped a lawsuit that claimed Drake stole a key motif in the music video for his hit summer single “What Did I Miss?” Read more here.

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