Young Thug Sued After Selling $16 Million Catalog

Atlanta rapper Young Thug is being sued by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) for allegedly receiving $16 million in publishing sale. Thug who was just released from prison on October 31 after being cleared from racketeering and gang-related charges.

According to AllHipHop, AEG alleges the rapper netted $16 million in a 2021 publishing deal. However, the entertainment conglomerate says they have control of the copyrights included in a 2017 contract agreement. AEG claims that Young Thug violated a previous agreement when he offloaded copyrights to over 400 compositions. Which AEG says were to serve as collateral for an unpaid loan. The company is labeling the sale as an unlawful diversion increasing the fight for the money.

In 2017, AEG loaned just over $5 million to YSL in exchange for exclusive global rights to promote his live shows. In return, YSL and Young Thug would repay the borrowed sum with interest. In addition they would share revenue from concerts that included third party promoters.

In 2019, it is believed the situation soured when AEG realized things were not as he painted it to be. They alleged that Thugger and YSL misrepresented their financial capacity causing them to default on the loan, leaving a $5 million balance. By 2021, the saga took a turn for the worse when the “Go Crazy” rapper sold off a massive portion of his catalog to Kobalt Music.

The legal battle was placed on hold in 2022 when the Atlanta rapper was incarcerated on unrelated criminal charges. With his plea deal being finalized on October 2024, allowing him to serve 15 years’ probation it is believed the legal battle will pick up speed.

With the sale of the catalog new problems can arise adding to the complexity to the dispute. AEG believes that Thugger breached their contract and lied to the new buyer. The entertainment company is not only seeking the original loan balance but any earnings attached to the transferred copyrights.

AEG is currently pursing parties involved by issuing subpoenas and working to identify who holds the copyrights and where the sale money landed. Within the next six months they will decided how to further pursue the legal matter. The upcoming months for Thugger could involve more court time.