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Timbaland and Swizz Beatz are suing the short-form music video app, Triller, for $28 million on charges of breach of contract after the duo's livestream music platform Verzuz was acquired by the app.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, August 16, in Los Angeles Superior Court, as reported by the Washington Post. Attorneys for Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have claimed that Triller denied the payment requests and has already defaulted on them.
According to the lawsuit, the duo was paid in January and April last year but payments were due in January this year, which are still pending. Although both sides agreed to a new payment system, the payments still did not arrive in time. Meanwhile, Triller, Swizz Beatz, and Timbaland’s representatives have not yet commented on anything.
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland stated that a portion of their shares would be given to artists who have been a part of Verzuz, including DMX, Jeezy, Gucci Mane, Gladys Knight, and more.
Triller acquired Verzuz at a high price
In 2021, Triller said it was buying Verzuz for an undisclosed price. It also marked the end of their relationship with Apple Music.
The agreement stated that Timbaland and Swizz Beatz would join the Triller management team and would become shareholders in the Triller Network. They will provide a share of their equity stake to 43 artists who were linked to Verzuz so that they can continue their work in the music industry.
Although the transaction details were not revealed at the time, it was recently disclosed that it was an eight-figure amount. It had to be paid in installments, including the first while closing followed by another and two more on the first and second anniversaries of the deal.
While Triller failed to make payments, a new agreement was signed according to which Triller had to pay $9 million before March 17 and $500,000 individually to Timbaland and Swizz Beatz for the next 10 months. Triller still did not pay anything and although they were issued with a notice, they did not respond.
According to the lawsuit against Triller, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz are seeking compensatory damages worth $28,095,000 alongside attorney fees and costs and pre-judgment interest.
About Triller and Verzuz
Triller is a social networking site where users can create and share short videos, including videos set to or automatically linked to music with artificial technology.
Released in 2015, the application was first used only for video editing and it later became a social networking site. Triller specifically became famous in India following the ban on TikTok and later distributed pay-per-view boxing events.
Verzuz is a webcast series created by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. It was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic when the duo engaged in a DJ battle through Instagram Live.
Timbaland and Swizz Beatz's live-streaming rap battle show turned into a popular series, with many high-profile artists appearing on the show, including John Legend, 2 Chainz, Alicia Keys and many more.
