Timbaland Sues Ex-Managers for $15M Over Accusations of ‘Financial Misconduct’
Categoria: Musica
The veteran hitmaker claims his longtime manager and partner Gary Marella treated him like "a piggy bank" — accusations the manager strongly denies.
Por Billboard | 02/11/2026
Timbaland is suing his former manager and business manager in a $15 million lawsuit that alleges the pair committed widespread misconduct in order to “enrich themselves” at the star’s expense. The lawsuit, submitted Friday (Oct. 30) to a Los Angeles court and reviewed by Billboard , claims manager Gary Marella “stole millions in unauthorized commissions, fees, and reimbursements” and “falsified financial records” to conceal misdeeds. Related Why Aaliyah’s Family Is Still Fighting in Court — 5 Years After Her Music Catalog Returned Kenny MacPherson, Veteran Music Publisher and Big Deal Music Co-Founder, Dies at 71 Diddy Moved From New Jersey Prison to Similar Facility in Pennsylvania The case also alleges that business manager Bruce Seckendorf caused big tax penalties by failing to pay federal taxes and also nearly caused the star’s house to be foreclosed, all while continuing to pay himself and Marella “millions” in fees. “This is not a case about ordinary business losses or bookkeeping errors,” Timbaland’s lawyers write. “Defendants used their entrusted authority to enrich themselves and others, conceal financial misconduct, and deplete Timbaland’s valuable assets.” In a response statement to Billboard on Monday (Nov. 2), Marella denied the lawsuit’s allegations, saying the “allegation that I paid myself without his knowledge is not true.” “When I began managing Tim in 2017, long after he had produced his biggest hits, he was already in a bad financial place,” the manager said. “His financial problems did not begin with me. I came in to help rebuild his business. Over approximately nine years after I started working with Tim, we generated roughly $75 million in business.” Timbaland (Timothy Zachery Mosley), a hit-making producer behind smash singles like Jay-Z ’s “Big Pimpin’” and Justin Timberlake ’s “SexyBack,” was managed for a decade by Marella, a veteran manager at Mono Music Group. That included Timbaland’s catalog sale to Hipgnosis Songs Fund in 2019, as well as his success with and later sale of Verzuz , a battle rap livestream series that spiked in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Related Timbaland’s AI Artist TaTa Signs to Pacific Music Group The discord between them first became public in August, when Timbaland lodged accusations against the manager as part of a wrongful termination lawsuit filed against the star by DJ E Feezy. In that filing, made in Florida state court, Timbaland blamed Marella for Feezy’s accusations, leveled allegations of financial impropriety and said he had terminated him as his manager more than a year earlier. In Friday’s complaint, Timbaland doubled down on those accusations, claiming Marella had “treated plaintiff’s income and business ventures as his own checkbook.” The lawsuit claims Marella charged personal expenses to an American Express card, took improper compensation from both the Hipgnosis and Verzuz deals, and then covered his tracks with “falsified f