Chance The Rapper Sued For $3 Million By Ex Manager
Chance The Rapper Sued For $3 Million By Former Manager
Chance The Rapper (real name Chancelor Bennett) is facing a lawsuit. According to reports, the 27-year-old rapper is being sued by his former manager, Pat Corcoran. According to Complete Music:
In a lawsuit filed with the courts in Illinois earlier this week, Corcoran accuses his former client of ignoring his professional advice, then blaming him for the mixed response from fans to 2019 album ‘The Big Day’ and subsequent lacklustre ticket sales, firing him in April this year, and then refusing to pay commissions that are owed. According to the lawsuit, Corcoran’s working partnership with Bennett remained strong until early 2019. Then, in February that year, the rapper announced, without consulting or informing his manager, that he would release his first studio album proper in July that year.
“Given the significant amount of work, care and attention needed to produce an album”, the lawsuit goes on, “Corcoran expressed serious concern with the projected release date Bennett had unilaterally announced for the album”. With the rapper also getting married the following month, the manager reckoned there wasn’t enough time to create, record and prepare an album.
That unrealistic timeline, coupled with “unproductive and undisciplined studio sessions”, resulted in a “freestyle-driven product of sub-part quality”. ‘The Big Day’ was by no means a flop, and garnered some good reviews, but was not as popular as previous releases, especially among the rapper’s fanbase. That less than enthusiastic fan response to the record, Corcoran claims, directly resulted in lacklustre ticket sales for the follow-on tour. It was poor ticket sales, the lawsuit alleges, that resulted in the tour being postponed and then cancelled entirely. All of this, Corcoran argues, was the result of Bennett increasingly ignoring his advice, instead allowing his business affairs to be managed by his father and brother, Ken and Taylor Bennett.
Chance The Rapper’s former manager is now seeking to enforce his oral agreement with the rapper, 15% of his client’s net income, which he says is more than $3 million owed. He also wants to enforce an “industry standard” sunset clause, so that he continues to earn commissions for three more years. Chance is being sued for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and violation of the Illinois Sales Representative Act.