Chance the Rapper is celebrating another courtroom win after a Chicago judge ordered his former manager to surrender merchandise-related earnings that could exceed $1.5 million.
The 33-year-old Grammy winner shared his relief after Judge James E. Hanlon Jr. ruled that Pat Corcoran improperly profited from business arrangements involving Chance’s merchandise vendors.
“I’m grateful to finally close this chapter of my life and can’t wait to eventually tell my side of the story,” Chance told Rolling Stone. “I’m thankful to the courts and, more importantly, to God for remaining faithful.”
The ruling comes months after Chance, whose real name is Chancelor Bennett, won a March trial involving contract and interference claims against his former manager. According to the judge, Corcoran collected commissions from vendors while also receiving management fees from the rapper.
“His merchandise company took commissions from Bennett’s own vendors on Bennett’s own orders, which is a secret profit,” Hanlon wrote.
Corcoran must surrender those commissions, forfeit his 15 percent management compensation tied to merchandise deals and transfer ownership of chancraps.com to Chance.
However, the judge rejected the rapper’s attempt to recover most of the $10 million Corcoran earned during their working relationship.
A spokesperson for Corcoran welcomed that part of the decision, saying, “It is now up to Chance to prove he incurred any harm at all in the very limited areas of merchandising outlined in the order.”
The final amount Corcoran owes remains undetermined.