Pharrell Williams is facing a lawsuit from his former Neptunes partner Chad Hugo, who claims his longtime friend has cut him out of their company and owes him as much as $1 million from an N.E.R.D. album.
Before Pharrell became a solo superstar, he and Hugo formed a prolific songwriting duo for years, producing massive hits like Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” and Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body.” They also formed two-thirds of N.E.R.D., a hip-hop/rock band that enjoyed its own run of hit albums in the 2000s and 2010s.
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But in a strongly-worded lawsuit filed Friday (Jan. 23), Hugo accuses Williams — his friend since their Virginia childhoods — of committing a wide range of legal wrongdoing against his former partner.
“Williams engaged in self-dealing, concealed material information, and … diverted revenues owed to plaintiff,” writes Hugo’s attorney, Brent J. Lehman of the law firm Munck Wilson Mandala. “Such willful, fraudulent, and malicious conduct warrants the imposition of punitive damages.”
Friday’s lawsuit, obtained and first reported by Billboard, isn’t the first legal battle between the two collaborators. Back in 2024, Hugo filed another action accusing Pharrell of “fraudulently” seeking sole control over the “Neptunes” name; that dispute remains pending at a federal trademark tribunal.
But the new case broadens the fight significantly, with Hugo accusing Williams of withholding royalties and refusing to hand over documents that would help Hugo figure out how much he’s owed — part of what his lawyers call a “systemic denial” of his rights as a partner. In one passage, Hugo’s lawyers say he’s potentially owed up to $1 million in damages from the 2017 N.E.R.D. album No One Ever Really Dies alone.
“Plaintiff has not received his appropriate share of royalties in connection with The Neptunes and N.E.R.D.’s album sales and released music, as well as distributions from touring income, and various merchandising deals,” Lehman writes.
A spokesperson for Pharrell did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
Hugo and Pharrell were still working together between 2020 and 2022, when The Neptunes produced music for artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Rosalía and A$AP Ferg. As recently as 2022, shortly before the duo were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Hugo told Billboard that he had recently been in the recording studio “with my fellow Neptune, comrade Pharrell Williams.”
But under the surface, conflict was allegedly brewing. Hugo’s lawyers say he made repeated efforts starting in 2021 to get Pharrell to hand over “monthly statements, books and records, and royalty statements” as required by their operating agreement. In August 2021, Hugo’s attorneys started sending Williams demand letters seeking financial disclosures, doing so repeatedly over the last four years. But they say he largely ignored them, only offering “limited” and “incomplete” documents.
“Defendant Williams’ persistent failure to provide [financial records] constitutes a breach of the operating agreement,” Hugo’s lawyers say. “Plaintiff has been deprived of the transparency necessary to evaluate buyout proposals, confirm the calculation and categorization of distributions owed to him … and assess revenues.”
Amid that growing tension, Hugo filed his trademark case in March 2024, claiming that Pharrell and his company were improperly trying to unilaterally register trademarks for their shared Neptunes name. As first reported by Billboard, Hugo claimed that their partnership required them to share the name rights: “Applicant has committed fraud in securing the trademarks and acted in bad faith,” he alleged.
At the time, Pharrell’s reps downplayed the dispute, saying they had repeatedly offered to involve Hugo and had always intended both men to “share in ownership” of the name. In a September 2024 interview, however, the star confirmed that he and Hugo were no longer on speaking terms: “I love him, and I always wish him the absolute best, and I’m very grateful for our time together.”
In the new lawsuit, Hugo’s attorneys say the dispute has only continued to grow — and that their client is owed substantial money. They say they’ve seen no revenue at all since September 2023 from an N.E.R.D. merchandising partnership, for instance, and they claim they’re owed “at least $325,000-$575,000” from No One Ever, with “potential damages” over the album “exceeding $750k-$1M.”
As recently as last month, Hugo’s lawyers say, Pharrell’s attorneys “promised to produce documents” about the company’s finances. But they claim that ultimately “no documents were ever produced” to resolve the situation: “Notably, defendant Williams’ counsel admitted having difficulty accessing the documents but acknowledged that such documents exist.”
In technical legal terms, the lawsuit accuses Williams of breaching his fiduciary duty, seeks an accounting of the royalties for both the Neptunes and N.E.R.D., and asks for a declaratory judgment clarifying their rights under the operating agreement.
“After years of obfuscation by Pharrell and his team, Mr. Hugo had no choice but to seek substantial compensation and accountability in court,” said Lehman, the producer’s attorney, in an emailed statement to Billboard. “We look forward to presenting the evidence and obtaining the full relief the law provides.”
