Chance The Rapper Files Lawsuit Against Former Manager Pat Corcoran

Chance The Rapper has responded to the legal claims of his former manager Pat Corcoran and, in addition, filed his own lawsuit against the ex-manager.

According to reports, Chance (real name Chancelor Johnathan Bennett) is seeking to dismiss several counts in Corcoran’s December 2020 lawsuit, alleging that the former manager has received complete payment. “Mr. Corcoran has been paid in full under his management services contract with Mr. Bennett. Yet he chose to file a groundless and insulting lawsuit that ignores his own improper self-dealing and incompetence,” Bennett’s attorneys said in a statement. “Mr. Bennett has moved to dismiss the majority of that meritless lawsuit, and filed his own lawsuit to remedy the harm that Mr. Corcoran caused through his breaches of duty. Mr. Bennett trusts the legal system to reveal the truth of the parties’ relationship in due course.”

The rapper is also suing Corcoran for reportedly taking advantage of his position as a manager, claiming that Corcoran exploited his authority for personal gains. Calling him a “marginally competent business manager” at his best and a “bullying and abrasive self-promoter” at his worst, Bennett’s suit detailed their first meeting in 2012, confirmed the 2013 oral agreement that promised Corcoran 15 percent of the net music profits in exchange for his managerial work and provided supposed examples that supported his claims against the former manager. These examples include allegations that Corcoran “effectively sabotaged” a contract that was supposed to use Bennett as the celebrity spokesperson of music distributor UnitedMasters, and that Corcoran took advantage of Live Nation’s interest in promoting (without Bennett’s knowledge) a Chance The Rapper tour by getting the company to purchase wine from his No Fine Print company. Corcoran has also reportedly not turned over the domain registration of chanceraps.com or the fan mailing list, and Bennett is asking for a jury trial.

Bennett further alleged that Corcoran’s supervising of the merchandise business was unsatisfactory, going as far as claiming that Corcoran mishandled the release of vinyl copies. As a result of the supposed mismanaging, over $1 million USD worth of refunds and free merchandise were given out to fans. Corcoran also purportedly failed to craft a marketing plan for Chance’s The Big Day album and instead “capitalized on the buzz by announcing his entertainment company, Nice Work, had entered into a partnership with Warner Music.” The suit reads, “Mr. Bennett is known for being an independent artist, so to have his manager announce his affiliation with a major label three days after the release of Mr. Bennett’s debut album was profoundly off-message and created confusion among Mr. Bennett’s fan base as to whether he was abandoning his commitment to his independence.”

Corcoran’s side replied to the lawsuit, “Rather than confront the substance of Pat the Manager’s claims, the defendants have elected to attack Mr. Corcoran’s character and rewrite history,” adding, “The aspersions cast by the Chance camp are offensive and do not reflect the reality of the relationship that Mr. Corcoran and Mr. Bennett developed over many years of collaboration.”

“The results of the pair’s fruitful teamwork — and the contrasting results when Mr. Corcoran was sidelined — are evident to the public. Mr. Corcoran is proud of the work he did on Mr. Bennett’s behalf, and is proud of the work he continues to perform for other talented artists. Mr. Corcoran looks forward to presenting his claims and airing out the defendants’ baseless accusations in court.”

Elsewhere in music, a petition to rename a New York street after the late MF DOOM has been launched.