Atlanta rapper Young Thug (real name Jeffrey Williams) has been hit with a $6 million lawsuit from concert promoter AEG Presents for the breaching of a contract he signed with the company concerning his shows. The rapper signed paperwork with AEG Presents several years ago with a clause that stated any live show he was to perform had to be arranged through AEG presents and that they had exclusive rights to his shows, meaning no other individual, agency or company could handle the process of organising a Young Thug show.
However, the company have sued the rapper claiming he violated the contract virtually right after he signed the contract in 2017 by scheduling shows independently. As a result of this, the rapper earned hundreds of thousands of dollars while AEG Presents never saw a dime.
The company have revealed that shortly after he signed, they gave Williams a multi-million dollar advance of close to $5 million. They now want this advance back, as well as the estimated $1 million the rapper grossed while organising live performances independently.
In a formal statement, AEG lawyer Kathleen Jorrie detailed, “Despite having granted AEG the exclusive right to promote Mr Williams’ concert performances under the terms of the 2017 Artist Agreement, YSL and Mr Williams immediately failed and refused to honour their respective obligations under the 2017 Artist Agreement by, among other things, disregarding AEG’s rights, performing concerts without AEG’s involvement, and retaining all proceeds generated therefrom.”
Attempting to settle the issue outside of court, Thug allegedly offered the company some of his intellectual property rights as collateral to bring the demand down from $6 million. But AEG wants $6 million, possession of the YSL label, some of his publishing list and the Young Thug trademark to make up for the damages.
Amidst Young Thugs, RICO charges, finally a trial date has been set for October 24, 2023. However, the Atlanta rapper is facing further legal issues aside from both of these. Williams has also been sued for $150,000 over an Atlanta concert he was supposed to perform in June. However, due to his arrest, he couldn’t perform, so the organisers want their deposit back.
The rapper is definitely drowning in lawsuits, to say the least. You can view the series of artistic photos the rapper has released as part of his new album rollout.