Pusha T has a unique perspective on the current legal battle between Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo.
On Monday (April 1), a Billboard reports revealed lawyers for Hugo, who co-founded The Neptunes in 1992 with Williams, filed a lawsuit against the “Happy” vocalist, claiming he was attempting to “unjustly trademark” The Neptunes’ name.
According to the filing, Williams would have sole control over the name if his trademark was indeed approved and would be in control of “The Neptunes” imprint when it came to streaming, music videos and live performances.
Hugo’s lawyer’s claim Williams trademark filing would “fraudulently” cut Hugo out of the agreement they previously had in place to split everything between themselves in an equal and fair manner.
“Throughout their over 30 year history, [Hugo] and Williams agreed to, and in fact, have divided all assets,” Hugo’s attorney Kenneth D. Freundlich wrote in a statement.
In a response provided by a representative for Williams, it appears the news of the lawsuit took the fellow Virginia native for a loop.
“Pharrell is surprised by the lawsuit,” the statement read in part. “We have reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership and administration of the trademark and will continue to make that offer.”
As the rep continued, it appears as though Williams intent was not with malice, but rather proactive intent to secure the intellectual property for himself and Hugo.
“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 ownership and administration.”
In the comment section of an Instagram post reporting the news of the lawsuit, Pusha T offered his two cents on the situation, quite literally suggesting it was a cash grab initiated by a third party, not either of the creators.
“There’s not a dollar involved in this stupidity,” Push wrote in part. “Just a lawyer looking to drain Chads pocket.” Push concluded his remarks, writing “Unreal,” stamped with a crying-out-loud smiley face emoji.
Throughout the years, things have been extremely cordial between all three parties. In fact, in 2019 during William’s hometown festival SOMETHING IN THE WATER, Hugo and Push appeared alongside the Louis Vuitton Men’s Creative Director and Timbaland during a special live presentation of OTHERtone featuring music legend Teddy Riley.
Check out the video featuring Hugo, Push and Williams below.
