A jury has rejected legal claims brought against Chance the Rapper by his longtime manager Pat Corcoran, known as Pat the Manager.
Chicago jurors came back with the verdict on Friday night (March 20) following a two-and-a-half week trial in the messy legal battle between Chance (born Chancelor Bennett) and Corcoran, who were once inseparable but parted ways on bad terms a few years back.
Corcoran first sued Chance in 2020, alleging he was owed $3.8 million in unpaid commissions — including under a so-called “sunset clause” that ran three years post-termination — even though the two never had a written contract. The jury rejected those claims on Friday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Jurors also sided with Chance on his 2021 countersuit, which accused Cocoran of breaching fiduciary duties and exploiting career opportunities for his own benefit. But they awarded the rapper only $35 in damages, per the Sun-Times, rather than the $1 million sought by Chance.
In a statement sent to Billboard, Jay Scharkey, an attorney for Corcoran, said, “We respect the jury’s decision, but the message to music managers is clear: Get it in writing. The jury award of $35 speaks to how seriously the jury viewed Chance’s case.”
A representative for Chance did not immediately provide comment on the outcome.
The verdict followed closing arguments on Friday, during which lawyers for Chance and Corcoran made their final pitches to the jury in the years-long legal fight.
“This story is about someone who becomes famous and forgets what it took to get him there,” said Robert D. Sweeney, one of Corcoran’s lawyers, setting the tone for his closing statement.
Sweeney argued that the case centers on securing the money Corcoran says he’s owed under a 15% net deal allegedly struck early in Chance’s career in 2013, including the three-year post-termination “sunset clause.”
Sweeney pointed to Corcoran as the “common denominator” in Chance’s success, citing the 2016 album Coloring Book’s feats on the Billboard 200, where it spent 125 weeks, plus his three Grammy wins the following year. He went on to compare it to Chance’s 2025 Star Line, released after the two stopped working together, which spent just one week on the Billboard 200. “You can be great, but if you don’t have the right people around you, how’s that going to work out?” Sweeney said.
Sweeney added that there was “no doubt Pat loved this guy,” describing how Corcoran went the extra mile by taking on roles in promotion and distribution. “Pat took his 15% and did everything to prove the big labels wrong and the importance of staying independent,” he said.
“This [case] is about two guys working their butts off, then having a disagreement, parting ways and someone not getting paid,” Sweeney said, adding: “Pat brings a claim for breach of contract of an oral agreement. It’s hard to know what was said, so it’s about which story makes sense.”
When Chance’s lawyer, Precious S. Jacobs-Perry, took the floor, she told jurors that there is “no evidence” of a sunset agreement beyond “Pat’s own say so,” framing the case as “all about Pat’s greed and wanting something he doesn’t deserve. Just because you want it, doesn’t mean you take it.”
Jacobs-Perry presented written communications between the two parties starting in 2014, in which Corcoran outlined the oral agreement, which included the 15% management commission but made no mention of the post-termination agreement. The alleged sunset clause, she said, was first mentioned in Corcoran’s November 2020 lawsuit.
She went on to argue that Corcoran took undue credit for the rapper’s success while building his own ventures, ultimately neglecting Chance’s projects. “All companies he created had nothing to do with Chance, he was investing in himself. Pat used his position to enrich himself repeatedly,” she said, adding, “He chose not to be by Chance’s side like he was before.”
Jacobs-Perry also pointed to alleged lapses in management, including 24,000 merchandise orders that went unfulfilled in 2019, arguing Corcoran had become “absent” and overly reliant on delegation.
She further accused Corcoran of seeking equity in Chance’s recordings through UnitedMasters in 2017. According to Jacobs-Perry, Chance confronted him after the fact, “hoping his friend would tell him it wasn’t true.” Sweeney, however, maintained his client was not seeking ownership, but compensation for past work.
In closing, Jacobs-Perry said two key questions remain: whether the alleged sunset agreement exists, and whether Corcoran “interfered” in Chance’s career by inserting himself into deals without the artist’s knowledge.
“Pat filed his complaint, Chance decided to stand up for himself,” she said. “Chance chose independence, freedom and Pat had a golden opportunity to work with a talented artist. But he squandered that opportunity by betraying his friend.”
