Young Thug Accused Of Netting $16 Million From Catalog Sale Without AEG's Permission

BYCole Blake5.5K Views
Link Copied to Clipboard!
2021 Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival - Downtown Stage - Day 3
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 19: Young Thug performs onstage during the 2021 Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival on September 19 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Life is Beautiful Music & Art Festival)
AEG wants Young Thug to pay up.

Young Thug may have only gotten out of jail two weeks ago, but he's already dealing with drama from AEG. According to a new report from AllHipHop, the company accuses him of unlawfully selling off the copyright stakes to over 400 compositions in 2021 for $16 million. The copyrights were allegedly supposed to serve as collateral for an unpaid loan that Thug and YSL had taken out in exchange for exclusive global rights to promote his live shows.

The company allges they lent Thug $5.25 million in 2017 with the expectation that he would repay the borrowed sum with interest, while also sharing revenue from concerts featuring third-party promoters. AEG alleges that Thug defaulted on the loan and originally misrepresented his ability to pay it back. Now, AEG wants the original sum plus interest as well as any earnings Thug acquired from the sale of the copyrights.

Young Thug Performs During The Grammy Awards

February 10, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Young Thug performs with Camila. Cabello during the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 10, 2019, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Calif. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Expectedly, the entire drama was stalled once authorities arrested Thug and members of his YSL collective in 2022. They booked them with a massive RICO indictment at the time. After spending two years behind bars, Thug accepted a plea deal which allows him his freedom on numerous conditions. They include a 15-year probation sentence. In the time since getting out, Thug's met with up T.I., posted cryptically about Gunna, and more.

His attorney, Brian Steel, even had him FaceTime students at his Emory Law School class to discuss the YSL RICO case. "I think it's very, very, very important to become lawyers," the rapper told the students in a viral clip from the class. "Over any other thing. Lawyers and doctors were the two greatest things that were ever founded. You actually help people and I think that's God's work."

[Via]

About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
...