In 2024, Chad Hugo filed a legal action against his former Neptunes partner Pharrell Williams, accusing him of attempting to register trademarks for the Neptunes name without consulting Hugo. Now, Hugo is suing Pharrell, claiming he cut him out of their company and owes him up to $1 million from an N.E.R.D. album.
Hugo asserts that Pharrell has been withholding royalties and refusing to share documents that would help Hugo figure out how much he's owed. He says he's possibly owed as much as $1 million in damages from N.E.R.D.'s 2017 LP No One Ever Really Dies.
"Williams engaged in self-dealing, concealed material information, and … diverted revenues owed to plaintiff," Hugo’s attorney, Brent J. Lehman of the law firm Munck Wilson Mandala, wrote, per Billboard. "Such willful, fraudulent, and malicious conduct warrants the imposition of punitive damages."
"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 continued.
Hugo and Pharrell continued working together between 2020 and 2022. But in 2021, Hugo allegedly tried to get Pharrell to hand over "monthly statements, books and records, and royalty statements" as required by their operating agreement. Upon being refused, Hugo's attorneys began sending Williams demand letters seeking financial disclosures. But he allegedly was not compliant, only providing "limited" and "incomplete" documents.
"After years of obfuscation by Pharrell and his team, Mr. Hugo had no choice but to seek substantial compensation and accountability in court," Lehman said in a statement to Billboard. "We look forward to presenting the evidence and obtaining the full relief the law provides."
