Yahoo Movies Swizz Beatz And Timbaland Say Triller Social Platform Stiffed Them For 'Verzuz'
Legendary hip-hop producersTimbaland and Swizz Beatz say in a $28 million lawsuit that TikTok rival Triller hasn’t paid them for the sale of their popular music battle show “Verzuz.”
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges the short-form video platform still owes them for the livestreamed show they created in 2020, Billboard reported.
“Defendants have failed and refused to respond to plaintiffs’ written notice and demand for payment,” the complaint says, according to Billboard. “To date, defendants have failed and refused to make any payment to [Timbaland] and [Swizz Beatz] of the past due sums due and owing, and defendants continue in default of their payment obligations.”
Triller, in a company statement to HuffPost, wrote that the producers have been the “greatest beneficiaries″ of Triller and been paid “over $50 million” in cash and stock.
The company called the lawsuit “nothing more than a performance dispute on personal payments.”
“On top of the $50 million they were paid, they have annual obligations, which if met, and no breach has occurred, allows them to an annual payment,” the company wrote.
“Only one payment of $10 [million] was in question. We don’t believe they have met the thresholds for tha[t] payment, including, but not limited to, failure to disclose obligations to labels, and we have been trying to resolve it amicably.”
The company added that it would be filing a counter-claim as the producers “failed to disclose both trademark and label issues,” which “far” exceed $50 million in damages.
Timbaland and Swizz Beatz started Verzuz after facing each other in a DJ battle during the pandemic. They expanded the idea into a music battle show featuring matchups of popular artists, like Nelly vs. Ludacris, Brandy vs. Monica and DMX vs. Snoop Dogg.
The producers say they received two payments in 2021, but Triller missed the January 2022 payment. After a renegotiation and a payment in February, the two say they’ve gotten nothing. They claim they’re owed $18 million for past months and an additional $10 million for future payments.
The Washington Post reported this month that Triller’s payments to Black content creators have been “erratic and, in some cases, nonexistent.”
This article has been updated to include a company statement from Triller.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
