The legal tussle between entertainment giant AEG and acclaimed Hip-Hop artist Young Thug is starting to intensify.
Despite ongoing criminal proceedings that have seen the artist behind bars without bond since the beginning of his state RICO charges trial, AEG is pressing ahead with a $5 million lawsuit for alleged breach of contract.
Young Thug has been in custody since May 2022 facing state RICO charges. His trial in Fulton County Superior Court, Georgia, commenced with jury selection on January 4, 2023.
The RICO trial has thrown a wrench into the scheduling of the civil lawsuit proceedings between AEG and Young Thug.
The rapper’s unavailability has stalled essential discovery processes, including depositions, and made it challenging for both AEG and Young Thug’s defense to adequately prepare their cases.
With over 400 witnesses expected to be called in Young Thug’s criminal trial and hundreds more on the official witness list, the trial’s duration could extend into 2025.
This timeline has forced AEG and Young Thug to seek postponements of the pretrial and trial dates, now totaling two years of delays.
The dispute centers around a 2017 agreement in which AEG provided YSL with a $5,250,000 loan.
AEG alleges that YSL and Young Thug have breached the terms of a 2017 artist agreement and a related financial note, resulting in substantial unpaid debts.
Under the terms of this agreement, AEG also acquired the exclusive rights to promote live concert performances by Young Thug globally for a stated term.
In return, YSL and Young Thug were to repay the principal sum plus accrued interest and direct a portion of concert revenues — promoted by third-party promoters — to AEG.
However, AEG contends that YSL has failed to fulfill these obligations, leaving a principal balance of $5,000,000 outstanding after accounting for a $250,000 credit, along with accrued interest and $363,700 in unpaid revenue shares from third-party promoted concerts.
AEG claims that, upon their opting out of the artist agreement in August 2019, it became evident that Young Thug and YSL had not only failed to repay the borrowed funds but also lacked the net worth to meet their obligations under the agreement from the outset.
AEG alleges that Young Thug and YSL misrepresented their financial capacities at the time of the agreement and accuses them of not intending to honor their repayment and concert promotion commitments.
Adding a layer to the conflict, AEG asserts it has security interests in certain YSL and Young Thug’s assets, including trademarks and copyrights, pledged as collateral under the 2017 agreements.
Despite AEG’s attempts to recover the owed amounts through legal channels, including a demand for the assembly of all pledged collateral and pertinent documents, YSL and Young Thug have yet to satisfy these demands.
Both parties have pointed out the “good cause and extraordinary circumstances” necessitating the continuance of the civil trial dates, emphasizing that Young Thug’s ongoing legal battles have made it impractical to proceed as originally scheduled.
They anticipate requiring at least six months after the criminal trial to complete discovery, including taking Young Thug’s deposition and preparing for motion filings.
A judge is expected to issue trial dates shortly.
