Pharrell Williams has confirmed he is no longer on speaking terms with his former friend and Neptunes partner Chad Hugo.
Earlier this year, Hugo took his longtime songwriting and music production partner to court after Williams filed applications to trademark The Neptunes for three different purposes on his own.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Happy hitmaker was asked if he and his childhood friend were on speaking terms.
“No. But I love him, and I always wish him the absolute best, and I’m very grateful for our time together,” he replied.
However, he confirmed that Hugo voices himself in Piece by Piece, the upcoming animated biopic about Williams’ life.
The Neptunes are best known for co-writing and producing early 2000s hit such as Milkshake by Kelis, Nelly’s Hot in Herre, Drop It Like It’s Hot by Snoop Dogg, Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani and I’m a Slave 4 U by Britney Spears.
In the legal complaint, Hugo accused Williams of violating their longstanding agreement to split everything Neptunes-related equally by seeking sole control over the trademarks. His legal team argued that the Get Lucky singer “knowingly and intentionally” filed the trademark applications without Hugo’s input, or listing him as a co-owner.
At the time, Williams said in a statement to Billboard, “We have reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership and administration of the trademark and will continue to make that offer. The goal here was to make sure a third party doesn’t get a hold of the trademark and to guarantee Chad and Pharrell share in ownership and administration.”
In response, Hugo’s attorney Kenneth D. Freundlich argued, “If Pharrell’s intent was to include Chad in the filing, he should have registered it in the name of them jointly or as a partnership and not in his own name. This was a land grab in a long simmering dispute that has yet to be resolved.”
The dispute is ongoing.
