Pharrell Williams is the subject of a new lawsuit this week, having been freshly sued by Chad Hugo, his long-time partner in both their band N.E.R.D., and the pair’s former production duo, The Neptunes. Per Complex, Hugo—who met Williams when the pair were both teens, and who collaborated with him on hits for Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, and many other high-profile artists before their collaboration eventually broke down—claims in the suit that Williams failed to pay royalties or provide financial information on the pair’s collaborations through their N.E.R.D. Music, LLC company.
This is not the first time that Hugo has taken legal action against Williams. Back in 2024—oddly, right around the time Hugo was apparently lending his voice to the Williams Lego biopic Piece By Piece—he initiated legal action against his former partner over claims that he was trying to get a trademark for The Neptunes solely under his own name, cutting Hugo out of the equation. At the time, Williams confirmed that while “I always wish him the absolute best,” the two men weren’t on speaking terms.
Filed in California courts on Friday, the new suit puts some of its focus on N.E.R.D.’s 2017 album No One Ever Really Dies, which the suit claims could, all on its own, account for unpaid royalties as high as $1 million. Hugo—whose role in The Neptunes is described in the lawsuit as “principal composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, and producer responsible for programming, instrumentation, and overall sound design”—says he’s been trying to get financial information on N.E.R.D. Music’s financials from Williams since 2021. The suit claims that the company’s profits are supposed to be split between Williams, Hugo, and third N.E.R.D. member Shay Haley, with Williams receiving half of “touring and other income,” while merchandising and trademark money is supposed to be split equally between the three men.
