The former managers of Timbaland are going to have to face the hit-making producer in court after he accused them of stealing from him. According to Billboard, Timbaland filed a $15M lawsuit claiming that his former manager, Gary Marella, “stole millions in unauthorized commissions, fees, and reimbursements.” He also claimed Marella “falsified financial records” to hide the misdeeds. Moreover, he accused his business manager Bruce Seckendorf of failing to pay federal taxes, leading to major penalties and the threat of nearly foreclosing his home.
Timbo claimed that during this whole period, Seckendorf paid himself and Marella “millions” in fees. “This is not a case about ordinary business losses or bookkeeping errors,” Timbaland’s lawyers wrote. “Defendants used their entrusted authority to enrich themselves and others, conceal financial misconduct, and deplete Timbaland’s valuable assets.”
Timbaland Sues Former Managers
These issues between Timbaland and Marella initially arose in August after DJ E Feezy filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the producer. At the time, Timbo blamed Feezy’s claims on Marella due to financial impropriety and claims that he fired Marella as his manager over a year prior.
Regarding the latest suit, Marella said that the “allegation that I paid myself without his knowledge is not true.”
“When I began managing Tim in 2017, long after he had produced his biggest hits, he was already in a bad financial place,” Marella said. “His financial problems did not begin with me. I came in to help rebuild his business. Over approximately nine years after I started working with Tim, we generated roughly $75 million in business.”
Marella also co-founded Beatclub with Timbaland in 2021. Timbo claimed Marella “depleted investor funds, spent company money contrary to how he represented it would be used, incurred obligations Beatclub could not pay, failed to pay employees and creators he hired, and spent money contrary to board restrictions.”
In response, Marella pointed toward “a bad CTO who spent a significant amount of our capital, repeatedly missed deadlines, and ultimately failed to build the platform properly.”
We will continue to keep you posted on any further updates.
