(‘Verzuz’ Co-founders) ─ Swizz Beatz and Timbaland are taking Ryan Kavanaugh, founder and CEO to court for $28 million defaulted on their original deal and a settlement and payment agreement.
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland Sue Triller for $28 Million, Demand Payments for Verzuz Stream
UPDATE: Triller App has responded following lawsuit and stated that Verzuz's Co-founders Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have already been paid.
“This is truly unfortunate and we hope it is nothing more than a misunderstanding driven by lawyers. We do not wish to air our dirty laundry in the press, but we have paid Swizz and Tim millions in cash and in stock,” a rep for the company said, per TMZ.
“No one has benefited as much from Triller to date. Triller has helped fuel VERZUZ to new heights – making it the global cultural phenomenon it is today. We hope to resolve this amicably and quickly, and truly hope it’s just a misunderstanding. If we are forced to defend it, we are more than optimistic the truth and facts are on our side.”
See original story below.
Over a year after the producers sold Verzuz to Triller ─ the lawsuit stated that the duo received cash payments in January and April 2021, but a subsequent payment due in January 2022 never arrived.
In the lawsuit which was filed Tuesday (August 16), In Los Angeles Superior Court, Timbaland (Timothy Mosley) and Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Daoud Dean) the TikTok rival is accused of defaulting on its scheduled payments for the duo in January 2022 after sending the first two installments. It was contracted to pay “the first at closing, another shortly after, and two more on the first and second anniversaries of the deal,” per THR. The magazine says the superproducers were each due to receive $9 million by March 17, 2022, at the latest, followed by $500,000 apiece every month for 10 months, with conditions that could accelerate those payouts.
“Defendants have failed and refused to respond to plaintiffs’ written notice and demand for payment,” the pair’s lawyers wrote in the complaint. “To date, defendants have failed and refused to make any payment to Mosley and Dean of the past due sums due and owing, and defendants continue in default of their payment obligations.”
Billboard reports. In the complaint, the duo’s lawyers claim that Triller has failed to respond to demands for payment and have repeatedly defaulted in payment obligations.
Back in March 2020, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz launched the series on Instagram just days after the global shut-down from the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. It began as a remote competition and, as restrictions lifted, pivoted to in-person live events streamed in real time on the social platform as well as Apple Music. Verzuz has featured high-profile showdowns between Ludacris and Nelly, T-Pain and Lil Jon, Alicia Keys and John Legend, DMX and Snoop Dogg, ’90s icons Brandy and Monica filmed at Tyler Perry Studios and many other top names, brought in more than 1.2 million concurrent viewers.
On February 15, Verzuz co-founders faced backlash when it was announced that the latest battle would be exclusively aired on Triller’s $2.99-per-month premium service. Later in the day, Swizz Beatz assured fans that the show would still be available on Instagram and other free platforms: “I was out of the country don’t ask me who did it,” he wrote with a laughing emoji. “It’s fixed.”
Two years of Verzuz's series, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz launched Verzuz in March 2020, just days after the global shut-down from the COVID-19 pandemic, and it took off as peak quarantine entertainment – a virtual music battle between top artists, livestreamed to millions of users on Instagram and other platforms. Since the pair of producers squared off in the inaugural show, Verzuz has featured high-profile showdowns between T-Pain and Lil Jon, Alicia Keys and John Legend, DMX and Snoop Dogg, Brandy and Monica, and many other top names, often drawing millions of viewers.