Last month, Grammy-winning artists Timbaland and Swizz Beatz sued TikTok competitor Triller for $28 million. Trill bought their livestream event series Verzuz last year, but the two musicians claimed the social app had missed several large payments, prompting them to file a lawsuit.
Now, Triller has reached a settlement with Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, but the terms of the settlement are not being disclosed. However, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz are now getting a larger stake in the company.
When the two artists filed the suit, Triller had missed a large payment to them in January, so the parties agreed that Trill would pay them $18 million by March 20, followed by $1 million per month for the next 10 months. The lawsuit alleged that Trill had made none of these payments. However, Triller said there is only one $10 million payment at stake.
Trill is also facing a lawsuit from Sony Music for alleged non-payment; plus, countless creators say they have not received promised payments as part of Triller’s creators program, which specifically recruits black creators.
Despite these legal disputes, Triller still plans to go public soon.
Trill provided a statement from CEO Bobby Sarnevesht by email:
At the end of the day, like any thanksgiving or family gathering, there are disagreements, but like any good family, we eventually forgive each other and come back stronger than ever.
the trill verzuz family is as strong as they’ve ever been. We’re glad we’ve put this disagreement behind us and couldn’t be more excited for the next chapter.
we look forward to bringing triller, verzuz and the trillerverz to the public markets as one happy family