Chance the Rapper prevails again in ongoing legal battle with former manager

Chance the Rapper claimed another legal victory against his former manager, Pat Corcoran, in Cook County Circuit Court this week after a judge ruled the rapper’s former friend and business partner breached his fiduciary duty.

Corcoran, aka Pat the Manager, had worked for the rapper from the beginnings of his career in 2012 through his termination in 2020 and has been ordered to forfeit merchandise commissions and management fees as well as return the ChanceRaps.com website domain to the artist by Oct. 28. A final hearing is set for Nov. 30, when the specific dollar amount owed to Chance the Rapper will be determined, which could total up to $1.5 million. According to the ruling, over the years he paid Corcoran a share of his net profits, totaling more than $10 million.

“Merchandise was at the center of what Bennett paid Corcoran to do, which makes this conduct a breach of the core duty,” Judge James Hanlon said in the ruling.

A judge ruled this week that Pat Corcoran, former manager for Chance the Rapper, “owed” the rapper loyalty on merchandise but “that outside ventures like the Ramova Theatre, We Are the Times, and the Hope film were not part of the bargain,” Hanlon said in the ruling.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“I’m grateful to finally close this chapter of my life and can’t wait to eventually tell my side of the story,” Chance the Rapper, born Chancellor Bennett, said in a statement. “I’m thankful to the courts and, more importantly, to God for remaining faithful.”

Hanlon wrote that “Each side asks for too much.” While Hanlon sided with Bennett, he denied the rapper’s requests for relief on outside ventures, including music distributor UnitedMasters, media venture We Are the Times, a film project called “Hope” and the Ramova Theatre in Bridgeport, in which Bennett has an ownership stake.

“Corcoran owed Bennett loyalty [on the merchandise]; he did not owe Bennett the right of first refusal on every investment that came across his desk,” Hanlon said in the ruling.

A spokesperson for Corcoran’s legal team at Sweeney Scharkey LLC said in a statement to the Sun-Times, “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.’ 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."

This week’s ruling marks the latest in the ongoing legal drama between the two parties, which originally stemmed from a 2020 lawsuit filed by Corcoran seeking $3.8 million in unpaid commissions after he was fired following a falling out over the lukewarm response to Bennett’s “Big Day Out” album, released in 2019.

Corcoran stipulated the two had a “sunset clause” that entitled him to royalties for three years post-termination. Bennett countered that they had no such arrangement. The two former friends, once the model for a successful independent artist and manager relationship, operated on a handshake deal and had nothing in writing. Bennett countersued for breach of contract, tortious interference and breach of fiduciary duty, seeking $1 million. In his claim, the music artist alleged Corcoran accepted kickbacks from vendors and partners.

The jury trial, to determine the basis of the legal claims, took place in March. The jury ruled in favor of Bennett, throwing out Corcoran’s case and awarding the rapper a nominal $35 in his countersuit as well as the return of the ChanceRaps.com website owned by Corcoran. The bench trial was to determine the fiduciary duty claim.

The court has given the two parties the chance to settle on a dollar amount by Nov. 30; if one can’t be reached, the court will decide.