Chad Hugo has sued his long-time musical collaborator Pharrell Williams in a major bust-up over the running of two companies that together manage the duo’s creative output, one their production work as The Neptunes, the other their outputs as the band NERD.
According to Hugo’s lawsuit, Williams is the ‘managing member’ of both companies, which means he is responsible for ensuring that the finances are properly managed. And that means providing Hugo with regular and timely accounting, and prompt payments for his share of any money generated. But Williams has failed to do both those things, the lawsuit claims.
Instead he has “engaged in self-dealing” and “concealed material information”, while also allegedly “diverting revenues” owed to Hugo. Such “willful, fraudulent and malicious conduct warrants the imposition of punitive damages”, Hugo’s legal filing concludes.
We already knew there were tensions between Hugo and Williams. Back in 2024, Hugo formally opposed moves by Williams to register trademarks in relation to the Neptunes brand, claiming that his former collaborator was “ignoring or excluding” him when submitting the trademark registrations. That dispute is seemingly ongoing.
Reps for Williams have already issued a statement about the new legal battle, insisting that the litigation is “premature” because a “standard accounting review is already in progress” and that may show Hugo isn’t owed any money from the two companies. And “if the accounting review determines that money is owed, the appropriate party will pay it”.
While there may well be a pending accounting review that could settle this dispute, Hugo’s lawsuit claims that his attorneys have been trying to get proper financial reporting out of Williams for five years now.
But even if that’s true, Williams insists in his statement, he has still “consistently acted in good faith" because “he has great respect for Chad”. As a result Williams “looks forward to resolving this in a way that honours their shared history”.
Hugo’s lawsuit summarises his and William’s creative partnership, which began in the late 1980s and ultimately resulted in the duo writing and producing hits for the likes of Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z, before forming their own band NERD with Sheldon ‘Shay Haley. While Williams always had the higher public profile, the lawsuit says, Hugo played a crucial role in their musical output.
The legal filing also provides some insight on the companies Hugo and Williams set up, NERD Music LLC and Neptunes LLC. Williams ended up with a bigger share of NERD Music LLC, but the Neptunes company was a 50/50 partnership.
With both companies, Williams and his team are responsible for managing the business day to day. They are then obliged to share the money with and provide regular financial reporting to Hugo, the latter obligation being set out in an ‘operating agreement’.
Hugo claims that Williams has failed to provide the accounting information he is due under that agreement. His lawyers have been chasing that reporting on a semi-regular basis since 2021.
In 2023, Williams did provide “a limited subset of documents”, but “failed to produce core categories of accounting and royalty documentation” that would allow Hugo’s team to review the two companies’ revenues and Hugo’s “corresponding entitlements”.
It’s also assumed Hugo is owed lots of cash by Williams. That includes $325,000-$575,000 in income from the last NERD album ‘No One Ever Really Dies’. And Hugo's 33% share of any money stemming from various NERD merchandise deals Williams entered into without consulting his bandmate.
Hugo wants the court to confirm his and Williams’ respective rights and obligations in relation to their two companies, plus a court order telling Williams to pay Hugo everything he is owed as well as some punitive damages.