Pharrell Williams sued by Neptunes partner Chad Hugo over royalty dispute

Chad Hugo has filed a lawsuit against Pharrell Williams, alleging unpaid royalties tied to N.E.R.D.’s final album

Pharrell Williams is facing a new legal challenge after longtime collaborator and Neptunes partner Chad Hugo filed a lawsuit alleging unpaid earnings tied to their work with N.E.R.D. 

The complaint, filed this week, seeks up to $1 million in damages and centers on royalties from the group’s 2017 album, No One Ever Really Dies.

According to the lawsuit, Hugo claims Williams denied him his rightful share of profits from the album, as well as income generated from touring and official N.E.R.D. merchandise. Hugo’s legal team alleges that Williams engaged in self-dealing and deliberately withheld financial information related to the earnings in question.

“Williams engaged in self-dealing, concealed material information, and diverted revenues owed to the plaintiff,” the complaint states, further alleging that the conduct was willful and warrants punitive damages.

The filing follows a separate dispute from 2024, when Hugo objected to Williams registering “The Neptunes” trademark solely under his own name. That matter remains unresolved and is cited in the current lawsuit as part of a broader pattern of alleged exclusion.

Williams and Hugo formed The Neptunes in 1992 and became one of the most influential production duos of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Together, they produced chart-topping hits for artists including Britney Spears, Nelly, and Gwen Stefani.

The duo also co-founded the genre-blending band N.E.R.D., which released multiple albums before disbanding in 2005. The group later reunited, releasing Seeing Sounds in 2008 and No One Ever Really Dies in 2017, which marked their final studio album.

Neither Williams nor his representatives have publicly responded to the lawsuit at the time of publication.