Pharrell Wants Chad Hugo’s Copyright Lawsuit Dismissed As Feud Continues

"The [complaint] does not say whether Hugo claims that he wrote music, wrote lyrics, played an instrument, performed on the master, programmed sounds that were incorporated into the master, recorded the master, mixed the master, creatively edited or otherwise manipulated the master, or did something else entirely," Williams' filing reads.

When Hugo originally sued Williams in 2024, he alleged that Williams cut him out of the Neptunes trademark. In a lawsuit filed in March, Hugo alleged he produced several songs between 2019 and 2021, including Pharrell's "Cash In Cash Out," "Love Is Not Written," "Pure," Latto's "Real One," Nigo, A$AP Rocky, and Tyler, the Creator's "Lost and Found," "Freestyle," featuring Tyler, the Creator, plus Rosalía's "Motomami" and "La Combi Versace."

In response to the recently amended lawsuit, Williams' attorneys argue that Hugo's claims are too "vague and ambiguous." They're asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit because there's no way Williams can "reasonably prepare a response." They allege Hugo has not specified exactly what he did on the records and keeps changing his examples.

"After years of dispute, three years of tolling, and three successive pleadings, those basic facts remain unidentified," Williams' attorneys wrote. "In fact, as incomprehensible as it is, it appears that Hugo has no idea which compositions or sound recordings he supposedly authored - even though he claims to have been there, right by Defendants' side, the whole time."

"Defendant Williams and his team have failed to honor Plaintiff's entitlements under their agreement, have failed to provide Plaintiff with his entitled publishing rights, and have taken full credit for all of Plaintiff's contributions without proper attribution or compensation," Hugo's attorneys wrote in their lawsuit March. "Defendant Williams has denied Plaintiff's joint authorship and co-ownership of the copyrights in works Plaintiff created as part of The Neptunes."

Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo formed The Neptunes in 1992. After they were discovered by Teddy Riley, the duo blew up with N.O.R.E.'s "Superthug." Since then, they've worked with a slew of legendary artists from JAY-Z and Beyoncé to Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. They launched N.E.R.D. with Shay Haley in 1999 and released five albums together, including their 2001 LP In Search Of... to their 2017 album No One Ever Really Dies.