Pusha T has expressed his dismay at Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo becoming embroiled a legal battle over ownership of the rights to The Neptunes trademark.
The Virginia rapper, who has worked with The Neptunes extensively both as a member of the Clipse and a solo artist, reacted to the news on Instagram and appeared to put the blame for the falling out on Hugo’s lawyer.
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“There’s not a dollar involved in this stupidity. Just a lawyer looking to drain Chad’s pockets. Unreal,” he wrote.
Pusha then responded to a comment comparing the situation to Ralph Tresvant buying the trademark to New Edition and said: “Smh… nothing more, nothing less.”
Pharrell originally filed for ownership of the trademarks of The Neptunes in 2022 which is now being disputed by his longtime production partner.
Chad Hugo and his attorneys are arguing that The Neptunes always agreed to split everything equally and that Pharrell’s move violates that agreement.
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Hugo’s attorney Kenneth D. Freundlich said in a statement to Billboard: “Throughout their over thirty year history, [Hugo] and Williams agreed to, and in fact, have divided all assets.
“By ignoring and excluding [Hugo] from the any and all applications filed by applicant for the mark ‘The Neptunes,’ applicant has committed fraud in securing the trademarks and acted in bad faith.”
Pharrell’s representatives denied they were acting in bad faith, saying: “Pharrell is surprised by this. We have reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership and administration of the trademark and will continue to make that offer.
“The goal here was to make sure a third party doesn’t get a hold of the trademark and to guarantee Chad and Pharrell share in ownership and administration.”
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However, Hugo’s legal team denied that this was the case: “If Pharrell’s intent was to include Chad in the filing, he should have registered it in the name of them jointly or as a partnership and not in his own name. This was a land grab in a long simmering dispute that has yet to be resolved.”
Hugo’s attorney also claimed that Pharrell had promised to include him in the filing but this didn’t happen allegedly because the “Happy” hitmaker wanted his production partner to sign “onerous business terms.”
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In happier times, the childhood friends became one of the most dominant forces in all of music in the 2000s, producing hits for everyone from JAY-Z, Snoop Dogg and and Ludacris to Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani.
In 2022, the Virginia-bred duo were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
