Recommendations of the Editorial team
Chance the Rapper has ended a five-year legal battle with his former manager Pat Corcoran. After deliberations by a jury in a two-week trial, the artist, whose real name is Chancelor Bennett, was awarded $35 in his countersuit against Corcoran. Bennett had accused the manager of exploiting his position, Demanding bribes and damaging the musician’s reputation.
The lawsuit, which sought $1 million, was originally filed in February 2021, just over two months after Corcoran filed suit demanding $3.8 million in outstanding expenses and commissions from the rapper related to touring, merchandise and other duties.
Bennett and Corcoran met in 2012 and shortly thereafter, according to countersuit documents, “verbally agreed that Mr. Corcoran would manage Mr. Bennett’s music career and would be compensated 15 percent of the net profits Mr. Bennett derived from the exploitation of his music during that time.”
Oral contract, not paper
However, because that agreement was never put into writing, Corcoran ultimately failed in his claim for damages after being fired as Bennett’s manager in April 2020 due to “Mr. Corcoran’s negligence, incompetence, betrayal and a competing business direction that could no longer be ignored, such that Mr. Bennett concluded that Mr. Corcoran was a growing burden on his career.” Bennett’s management today consists of his father Ken Bennett and his brother Taylor Bennett. In his lawsuit, Corcoran claimed that the two family members “eroded” the rapper’s trust in him.
In a statement to the Chicago Sun-Times, Corcoran’s attorney, Jay Scharkey, said: “We respect the jury’s decision, but the message to music executives is clear: Put it in writing. The $35 award shows how seriously the jury took Chance’s lawsuit.”
Bennett told the paper: “I declare victory in the name of the Lord.” His attorney, Precious Jacobs-Perry, added: “The jury heard the evidence for more than two weeks and came to the correct conclusion: Mr. Bennett never agreed to pay commissions after his management relationship with Pat Corcoran ended, and Mr. Corcoran breached the contract. This verdict is not just a victory for Mr. Bennett, but a victory for independent artists everywhere. … And most of all, we are pleased for our client, who has stood by his principles for years.”
