Leaving Your Rights Up to Chance: Lessons from the Chance the Rapper Lawsuit
Chance the Rapper (the stage name for Chancelor Bennett) quickly rose to fame beginning in 2012, when he—with the support of his father—started selling out shows in the Chicagoland area and getting in the sights of some of the music industry’s biggest names. Mr. Bennett’s hard work was not done in vain: in 2017, he won three Grammy Awards for his mixtape Coloring Book. A Chicago native, he also quickly established himself as a philanthropist with as much passion for giving back to others as making award-winning music.
Behind the scenes, Mr. Bennett was being professionally managed by an acquaintance, Pat Corcoran, whom he had met sometime in 2012. Despite his initial reservations about Corcoran, in 2013, Mr. Bennett ultimately decided to allow Corcoran to undertake responsibilities as Mr. Bennett’s music manager. In exchange, Corcoran would receive 15% of the net profits from the sale of Mr. Bennett’s music. But Mr. Bennett and Corcoran made a critical error that later exploded into a five-year legal battle between the two: they never put their agreement in writing.
In late 2020, after Mr. Bennett terminated Corcoran from his managerial duties due to Corcoran’s alleged incompetence and misconduct, Corcoran sued Mr. Bennett for millions of dollars in unpaid commissions. Corcoran’s lawsuit was premised on the 15% oral agreement he and Mr. Bennett had allegedly entered into several years prior. As part of his lawsuit, Corcoran alleged that Mr. Bennett had agreed to continue paying commissions for an additional three years after Corcoran was terminated. Mr. Bennett responded to Corcoran’s lawsuit by filing a lawsuit of his own, which detailed Corcoran’s alleged misdeeds, including exploiting opportunities intended for Mr. Bennett for Corcoran’s own financial gain. Both sides vigorously pursued their claims, enlisting the help of music industry experts to help them establish whether, even if there was no contract for an additional three years of commission payments, such payments would still be owed to Corcoran because they are standard practice in the industry.
In March 2026, over five years after each lawsuit was filed, the cases were finally tried before a jury in Cook County, Illinois. One of the key issues during the trial was whether or not Corcoran and Mr. Bennett entered into an oral agreement, and if so, what the terms of the agreement actually were. Without a written agreement, both Mr. Bennett and Corcoran were left to convince a jury, using experts and other witness testimony, that the oral agreement between them did (or did not) include post-termination commission payments. After a 13-day trial, the jury had a verdict: it concluded that (i) Corcoran did not prove that a contract existed for three additional years of commission payments, but that (ii) a contract did exist between Mr. Bennett and Corcoran requiring Mr. Bennett to pay Corcoran 15% of any net profits during Corcoran’s tenure as Mr. Bennett’s manager, and Mr. Bennett had not breached that contract.
While the case ended in a verdict that was favorable to Mr. Bennett (though he was only awarded nominal damages in the amount of $35), the case again serves as a cautionary tale to budding artists: get it in writing. Oral contracts are recognized as valid and binding contracts under Illinois law in some circumstances. But when a dispute arises, those who have only an oral contract have to overcome a lofty burden: they have to convince a jury or trier of fact of what the terms of the oral contract were, often using expert testimony and conflicting testimony of adverse parties. While written contracts do not prevent disputes from arising down the road, they are critical for artists at any stage in their career to help protect them if a dispute arises or relationship with a business partner turns sour.
O’Neill Law has experience successfully resolving disputes involving oral contracts, written contracts and no contracts at all. To find out how O’Neill Law can help you navigate a contract or partnership dispute, email katie@olawlit.com or call 312-242-2002.