Chance the Rapper took the stand against Pat Corcoran, his former manager, as their legal battle continues
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Chance wishes that he had fired Corcoran sooner than he did.
Corcoran has alleged that Chance owes him $3 million in unpaid commissions after they went their separate ways in 2020. He also claims they had a “sunset clause” which would give him a percentage of royalties until 2023. Corcoran said that it “was a handshake deal and they never got the agreement in writing.”
When Change took the stand, he disputed all of Corcoran’s claims.
”We never described it as a contract until he sued me. And we had an at-will agreement that didn’t address termination,” Chance testified. “We moved that way forever. We never discussed the sunset clause; we just discussed how I’d pay him. And one thing that stayed consistent is that I paid him his 15 percent [in net proceeds]. … I kept paying him that 15 percent. I can’t think of one situation where he did meaningful work, and I didn’t pay him.”
From 2012 to 2020, Chance claimed that he paid Corcoran $11 million as his manager. He added, “definitely the person that got paid the most” by Chance the Rapper LLC, his registered company.
”I probably should have fired him [sooner],” Chance said.
In November 2020, Corcoran filed the lawsuit against Chance. The lawsuit also included scathing comments about Chance’s 2019 debut album, The Big Day. He described it as “subpar” and “lackluster.” Also, he claimed Chance blamed him for the album’s poor fan reception instead of acknowledging his own “lack of dedication.”
Responding to the suit, Chance filed a countersuit the following year, seeking damages of $1 million and seeking to have the case dismissed. When Chance fired Corcoran, he replaced him with his father, Ken, and his brother, Taylor.