Fresh off being knighted by the French president, Pharrell Williams is facing a very different kind of spotlight. He’s dealing with a lawsuit from his longtime Neptunes collaborator Chad Hugo.
Friends No More
Hugo has sued Williams over alleged unpaid royalties tied to the 2017 N.E.R.D album, “No One Ever Really Dies,” claiming he is owed as much as $1 million. According to court filings reported by Pitchfork, Hugo alleges Williams failed to provide key financial records and withheld income related to royalties, touring, and merchandise connected to the project.
But while he was getting sued, Williams was also being honored. In Paris, he was bestowed with the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, France’s prestigious knighthood, from President Emmanuel Macron in a private ceremony at the Élysée Palace. The award recognized Williams’ cultural influence across music, fashion, and global creative industries.
Meanwhile, in the lawsuit, Hugo’s legal team accuses Williams of self-dealing and diverting revenues, alleging a long-standing pattern of withholding information despite repeated requests for transparency. The filing claims Hugo’s share of earnings from “No One Ever Really Dies” could range between $750,000 and $1 million.
Williams’ representatives maintain that Williams has acted in good faith and that any owed money would be paid once the review is completed.
This is not the first time tensions between the Neptunes’ architects and former friends have wound up in court. In 2024, Hugo accused Williams of attempting to gain sole control of the Neptunes trademark, a dispute that remains unresolved.
The two met when they were 12 years old, having met in a middle school band camp in Virginia Beach. They became one of the most successful production duos of the late 1990s and early 2000s. As the Neptunes, Hugo and Williams shaped chart-topping hits for artists including Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, and Ludacris, and were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020.
