- Swizz Beatz and Timbaland are suing Triller for $28 Million.
- Unconfirmed whether anyone other than the founders (TImbaland and Swizz) got their shares of TrillerVerz.
- Triller hits back saying they do not owe Timbaland Or Swizz Beatz as there is unfinished business.
- Swizz Beatz & Timbaland were told they shouldn’t sell Verzuz.
TMZ reports that Triller acquired Verzuz, a webcast series that took its genesis from the Jamaican clash culture and stage show Sting in January 2021 for an undisclosed sum. “This is a momentous occasion not only for Verzuz and Triller but the music business as a whole,” Swizz Beatz and Timbaland said in a joint statement at the time.
The lawsuit alleges the company began missing payments in January 2022, skipping out on a large settlement promised in March.
“To date, Defendants have failed and refused to make any payment to [Swizz Beatz and Timbaland] of the past due sums due and owing,” the suit reads.
Triller fired back against the multi-million-dollar lawsuit filed against them by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland—per The Shade Room. A representative for Triller provided an official statement saying, “This is not a feud over Verzuz, but simply about earn-out payments to Swizz and Tim. Swizz and Tim have personally been paid by Triller over $50 million in cash and stock to-date, and they stand to benefit even more over time. In addition, they have annual obligations, which if met, and no breach has occurred, entitles them to additional payments.”
Triller also claims that there are unfinished terms of their agreement: “Only one payment of $10 million is in question. We do not believe they have met the thresholds for that payment yet, which include, but are not limited to, delivery of a set number of Verzuz events for 2022.”
The company has previously been accused of nonpayment. Last year, Triller boasted a new partnership with 300 Black creators, who would receive a collective $14 million along with equity for participating in the deal. Many of those creators, however, allege that the social media company began missing payments almost immediately, according to reporting in The Washington Post. Creators who produced custom shows for Triller TV, the company’s live-streaming service, also told The Post that the brand owed them tens of thousands of dollars.
As part of the Verzuz deal, Swizz had promised to give every act who performed on the platform including Beenie Man and Bounty Killer who inspired a face to face format a share in TrillerVerz.
Billboard Magazine reported that they’ve decided to give a portion of their equity stake to the 43 entertainers who’ve appeared on Verzuz.
While the exact nature of the deal and exactly how much each artist will get was not disclosed, the list of artists who now own equity in Triller include: John Legend, DMX, Alicia Keys, 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, Too $hort, Patti LaBelle, Gucci Mane, Jeezy, E-40, D’Angelo, Ludacris, RZA, The Dream, Babyface, Nelly, Jagged Edge, Fred Hammond, Jadakiss, Fabolous, Brandy, Monica, Gladys Knight, Boi-1da, Hit-Boy, Ne-Yo, Johnta Austin, Scott Storch, T-Pain, Lil Jon, DJ Premier, Mannie Fresh, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, 112, Kirk Franklin, Sean Garrett and D’Angelo.
Earlier this year Swizz posted that the TrillerVerz listing on the Nasdaq is the biggest IPO of all time with a picture of the artists.
“By the artist for the artist with the people ⚡️ It’s always been our dream to go Big with the creatives 🙏🏽 This will be the Biggest creative IPO in History !!!!! You’ve never seen this many creatives apart of the Bigger picture ! But now it’s a new day we will see you all at the BELL🔔 #trillerverz @verzuztv @triller (THIS IS ONLY PT 1 OF THE LIST PT 2 &3 IS COMING )!!!!! I tried to tag everyone but insta only let me do 20 🤷🏽♂️😂⚡️ Let’s go 2022……We’re going public !!!!!!!!!!!,” the hip hop producer posted on Instagram.
The combined company is led by Triller CEO Mahi de Silv and Peter Aquino, who is part of the TrillerVerz executive team.
Verzuz started out as an Instagram Live series in March 2020 between Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, as the pandemic forced people to remain indoors. Swizz Beatz and Timbaland challenged famous artists to live musical battles on Instagram — including Brandy vs Monica, Jeezy vs Gucci Mane, and Ashanti vs Keyshia Cole.
The series quickly became a cultural phenomenon, garnering 6 million views on a single episode, breaking Instagram’s live-streaming record, and winning a ‘Break The Internet’ Webby Award in 2020. In August of that year, Verzuz inked a partnership with Apple and Twitter, to expand its broadcasts outside of Instagram, allowing viewers to watch the battles on Apple Music after the Beenie Man and Bounty Killer show stopping performance.
Ever since the sale of Verzuz, several celebrities have hit out against handing over the cultural capital to corporations.
Jamaican-American actor Michael Rainey Jr., known for his role in 50 Cent’s Power series, has said that Swizz and Timbaland are sellouts.
“Can’t ever jus have something of our own it’s always bout the money … Cool move but these n—as still sellouts,” he said on his Instagram Story.
Swizz Beatz reacted to those comments on Instagram by saying: “But we own Triller.” To drive home his point that he found the comment comical he added a shrug and a laughing-crying emoji. While Timbaland on the same platform said: “We own everything tell who done that.”
As part of the terms of the deal, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland joined Triller’s management team.
Things over at the 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles office seem to have taken a turn in January, when Triller missed a large payment to the Verzuz founders.
The company then agreed to a settlement requiring Triller to pay Swizz Beatz and Timbaland $18 million by March 20, with $1 million a month for the 10 months following. According to the lawsuit, Triller has missed every one of these payments.
There has been no confirmation on whether any other artist than Swizz and Timbaland got their shares or the current value of those shares.
