TRILLER SUED BY VERZUZ PRINCIPALS TIMBALAND AND SWIZZ BEATZ

Verzuz co-founders Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, who sold the hot competition series featuring catalog songs to Triller in 2021, are suing Ryan Kavanaugh's Triller Network for $28m in missed payments.

The super-producers' show became a hit during the pandemic lockdown. Progressing from Instagram livestreams to culture-shaping events broadcast on Apple Music, Verzuz lent new relevance to the work of Black veteran artists like T-Pain, Lil Jon, DMX, Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Brandy, Monica, Jeezy and Gucci Mane.

Triller acquired Verzuz in March 2021 following a bidding war. The suit claims that, since January, it has missed payments due Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. After agreeing to a settlement for a new payment plan, Triller once again ghosted on mandated cash transfers. Its delinquency has now totaled $28m according to the complaint.

In 2020 Triller piggybacked on former president Donald Trump's TikTok smear campaign by attempting to leverage TikTok's momentary shutdown to attract users and creators to Triller. (While Triller is similar to TikTok, its monthly active-user total pales in comparison to that of the world's hottest app.)

Since 2021, the Triller Network has changed CEOs, pivoted to MMA events and whiffed at multiple attempts to go public. "Missed payment" appears to be the "free space" of the Triller bingo card.