The drawn-out legal battle between Chance the Rapper and his former manager has finally concluded after a Cook County judge sided with the Chicago-born artist in a bench trial this week.
Chance the Rapper — whose real name is Chancelor Bennett — and former manager Pat Corcoran have been embroiled in a legal feud for nearly six years over various business disputes from both parties.
But on Tuesday, the bitter fight drew to a close with Judge James Hanlon finding that Corcoran violated his fiduciary obligations to Bennett, a ruling that could yield more than a $1.5 million payout to the artist, his representatives estimate.
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The legal battle started when Corcoran’s company sued Bennett’s companies for millions in unpaid commissions and royalties in late 2020, according to court filings and previous Tribune reporting. Bennett then countersued Corcoran two months later, accusing him of exploiting his position to divert business opportunities to his own companies and tarnishing the rapper’s image by demanding kickbacks from vendors as the price of doing business with him.
The case was tried in two parts. Earlier this spring, a Cook County jury found Corcoran had failed to prove he was owed the millions he sought. The March trial also considered Bennett’s countersuit, through which the artist had sought $1 million in damages. The jury ultimately sided with Bennett, though it awarded him considerably less money than he had sought, ruling he was owed $35 in damages, per court filings.
That left a breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim. The remaining claim is what was decided this week. Hanlon, in his ruling Tuesday, said the fiduciary claim “was tried to the Court because Bennett wants equitable remedies a jury cannot give.”
Outlining the claim, Hanlon wrote that Bennett “asks the court to order Corcoran to disgorge the compensation he earned while Corcoran was disloyal and to make him pay Bennett what he gained through his breach.” The period in question dates back to 2013, court filings state, during which Corcoran was paid more than $10 million. Bennett also sought punitive damages.
Meanwhile, of Corcoran, Hanlon wrote that the former manager answered: “he was an independent contractor who never owed Bennett a fiduciary duty, and that Bennett suffered no injury the law will recognize.”
Ultimately, Hanlon ordered that Corcoran must return certain vendor commissions that his company had taken from Bennett’s own vendors on Bennett’s own orders. He also ordered that Corcoran forfeit his 15% management compensation attributable to merchandising. His ruling did not specify how much Corcoran must pay, but both parties were asked to file a joint statement by next month laying out the agreed-upon amounts due.
Bennett’s reps in a news release Wednesday said Corcoran could forfeit up to $1.5 million in management fees and merchandise-related compensation, in addition to “undisclosed vendor commissions.”
Hanlon denied Bennett’s request for punitive damages. He also declined to order the full forfeiture of Corcoran’s $10 million in earnings over the years, as Bennett had requested, writing, “Corcoran performed years of valuable work in music and touring that Bennett had accepted and profited from, work that was not tainted by self-dealing.”
“Stripping Corcoran,” Hanlon continued, “of all his compensation across the life of the relationship would hand Bennett a windfall and would punish loyal work along with disloyal work.”
Bennett, in a statement, said he was “grateful to close this chapter of my life,” adding that he cannot wait to “eventually tell my side of the story.” He said he was “thankful to the courts and, more importantly, to God for remaining faithful.”
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Corcoran said in a statement to the Tribune, “The court ruled there is no basis for Chance’s claim of more than $10 million in damages.”
“We are pleased that the court agreed with Pat that he ‘performed years of valuable work that Bennett accepted and profited from, work that was not self-dealing,’” the spokesperson said. “It is now up to Chance to prove he incurred any harm at all in the very limited areas of merchandising outlined in the order.”