Pharrell has issued a response to a new lawsuit from his former Neptunes partner Chad Hugo over allegations that he’s owed up to $1 million in unpaid royalties.
Filed in federal court in California on Friday (January 23), Hugo’s suit claims that Pharrell has withheld substantial amounts of money from him for his work with The Neptunes and N.E.R.D., while also not providing proper accounting for their company, N.E.R.D. Music, LLC, which they formed in 2014.
Hugo, who in the complaint refers to himself as the “principal composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and producer responsible for programming, instrumentation and overall sound design” in The Neptunes, claims that it was Pharrell’s sole responsibility to handle the company’s income, expenses, royalties and other financial matters, but he failed to do so.
Hugo claims that since 2021 he has been trying to get access to the company’s financial records with little success. The suit says he “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.”
Hugo estimates that he is owed between $325,000 and $1 million for his contributions to N.E.R.D.’s 2017 album No One Ever Really Dies alone.
“[Pharrell] Williams engaged in self-dealing, concealed material information, and … diverted revenues owed to plaintiff,” Hugo’s attorney, Brent J. Lehman, argues in the suit. “Such willful, fraudulent, and malicious conduct warrants the imposition of punitive damages.”
In response, a representative for Pharrell issued a statement to Billboard denying any malicious conduct or intent.
“A standard accounting review is already in progress,” the rep said. “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 honors their shared history.”
This is not the first legal dispute between the former friends and collaborators, who together as The Neptunes were one of hip-hop’s most dominant hitmakers in the 2000s, producing countless hits for the likes of JAY-Z, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, the Clipse, Ludacris and many more.
In 2024, Chad Hugo filed a legal action against Pharrell over claims that he “fraudulently” sought sole control over the trademarks to The Neptunes’ name — a move he said violated their longstanding agreement that saw them split everything equally.
“Pharrell is surprised by this,” a representative for the “Happy” hitmaker said in response. “We have reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership and administration of the trademark and will continue to make that offer.
“The goal here was to make sure a third party doesn’t get a hold of the trademark and to guarantee Chad and Pharrell share in ownership and administration.”
However, Hugo’s attorney disputed this argument, hitting back: “If Pharrell’s intent was to include Chad in the filing, he should have registered it in the name of them jointly or as a partnership and not in his own name. This was a land grab in a long-simmering dispute that has yet to be resolved.”
The legal dispute, which was met with disappointment by many hip-hop fans including longtime friend and collaborator Pusha T, has yet to reach a conclusion.
