Swizz Beatz and Timbaland team up to sue the social media platform Triller for $28 MILLION after it fails to pay up for their musical battle series Verzuz
- Swizz Beatz and Timbaland are suing Triller for $28 million
- The duo sold their popular Verzuz series to the platform in 2021
- The producers claim the social media company has failed to make payments
- They reached a settlement after an earlier default, but payments stalled again
The hip hop producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland are joining forces to sue the buyer of their popular music competition series Verzuz after they say the company failed to pay up.
Swizz Beatz (real name: Kasseem Dean) and Timbaland (Timothy Mosley) have filed suit against the social media video platform Triller for $28 million, according to documents obtained by TMZ.
They claim in the lawsuit that that the platform has failed more than once to make the required payments after purchasing the video series, despite allegedly coming to a settlement after the first default.
Going to court: Swizz Beatz (R) and Timbaland (L) are suing the social media platform Triller for $28 million after it allegedly failed to pay for their series Verzuz, TMZ reported on Monday; seen in 2019 in Atlanta
Swizz Beatz, 43, and Timbaland, 50, came up with the idea of a musical duel early in he course of the coronavirus pandemic, and they squared off in the first performance in March 2020.
Each event features two high-profile stars, usually from hip hop or R&B, as they trade off playing their most popular songs while trying to one-up each other.
Each episode usually features commentary from the artists on the creation of their iconic tracks. Though fans at home keep scores, there is no official scorekeeping and no winner is declared.
Failure to pay: The lawsuit says Triller agreed to buy Verzuz in January 2021, but defaulted after two payments. After reaching a settlement, it again defaulted; Swizz (center) seen with (L–R) Dj Runna, will.i.am and Timbaland in May
The lawsuit says that the producers agreed to sell the rights to Verzuz to Triller, a TikTok competitor, in January 2021.
However, they claim that the social media company defaulted on the agreement after only two payments.
Although they subsequently reached a settlement, they claim that Triller once again defaulted after only one more payment, though it’s not clear how much the company has paid so far.
Pay up: In addition to the $28 million the beat makers are requesting, they are also looking to get interest on that amount; seen together in 2018 in New Jersey
In addition to the $28 million the beat makers are requesting, they are also looking to get interest on that amount.
So far, Triller has not commented on the lawsuit.
The creators of the series were its initial competitors during a battle on March 24, 2020, and subsequent episodes in its first season featured T-Pain competing against Lil Jon, Teddy Riley facing off against Babyface twice, Erykah Badu playing opposite Jill Scott and Nelly rapping against Ludacris.
Showdown: Each event features two high-profile stars, usually from hip hop or R&B, as they trade off playing their most popular songs while trying to one-up each other; Lil Wayne seen at the Verzuz of Bone Thugs-N-Harmonyy and Three 6 Mafia in December