On the heels of the release of her sophomore album, “Traumazine,” Megan Thee Stallion’s ongoing legal battle with Carl Crawford’s indie label 1501 Certified Entertainment continues.
An amended complaint obtained by Variety and filed on behalf of Megan (real name Megan Pete) reveals that in addition to asking Harris County district court to determine that her 2021 release “Something for Thee Hotties” is an “album” as defined in her recording agreement, Megan is also requesting $1 million in damages from the label.
In the complaint, Megan alleges that 1501 owes the amount due to their “underpayment of royalties” and for “wrongfully [allowing] for excessive marketing and promotion charges to be deducted from amounts owed to Pete under the recording agreement.”
If the judge rules in her favor, Megan will have officially completed her contractual obligations to 1501 and will be able to leave the label in compliance with the recording agreement she signed in 2018.
Attorneys for Megan did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
Over the past two years, Megan and 1501 have gone back and forth (both in and out of court) over disputes concerning her minimum recording commitment. 1501 has repeatedly denied the fact that “Something for Thee Hotties” meets their label’s requirements for a studio album.
Steven Zager, a legal rep for 1501 Certified Entertainment, confirmed to Variety that the label is still in the process of analyzing the validity of “Traumazine” as an album in accordance with her contract. However, even if “Traumazine” were to qualify, Zager claims Megan would still owe them at least one more full body of work to fulfill her contract.
Megan’s updated complaint also accuses the label of piracy, citing how “Trauamazine” leaked shortly after the label was given a link to the project prior to its release.
“Pete requested 1501’s assistance with [investigating the leak] but, to date, 1501 has not taken any action to help investigate,” the complaint continues. “Under those circumstances, Pete had no choice but to release ‘Traumazine’ early… If that were to occur, every minute that passed once the music was leaked would equate to lost earnings, lost chart position, and lost data for everyone — Pete, 1501, and 300 Entertainment. And yet, 1501 continues to take the position that ‘Traumazine’ does not satisfy Pete’s recording commitments as an ‘Album’ under the Contract.”
Zager says those claims came as a surprise to the label, and he believes the logic behind the accusation doesn’t make sense when you consider the monetization of “Trauamazine.” “When Megan makes a profit, so do we,” Zager said. “So what interest would we have in that?”
The amended complaint also reveals that Megan has “hired forensic investigators to try to determine the source of the leaks.”
Zager says a trial most likely won’t happen until May 2023, however, Megan is set to appear for an in-person deposition in October.