Pitbull was sued by a former manager who alleges he is owed commissions for helping the rapper jump-start his career.
Charles Chavez is the CEO of Latium Entertainment Inc. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court lists the company as the plaintiff.
The suit alleges breach of an oral agreement. It also seeks a court order directing the rapper to pay Latium 10 percent of all recording and publishing income from six albums recorded from 2007-13 to provide an accounting to determine how much money Pitbull owes the company.
The suit also seeks more than $1 million in damages. A representative for the 35-year-old Pitbull, whose real names is Armando Christian Perez, could not be immediately reached.
According to the complaint, Pitbull released three albums before Chavez became his manager but only enjoyed modest success until the plaintiff and the singer reached a verbal managerial agreement in 2007.
“There is no question Pitbull’s career took off after Chavez started managing him,” the suit states. “By any standard, during the time that he was managed by Chavez, Pitbull became one of the most celebrated and successful superstars to emerge in the past decade.”
Pitbull’s first big hit, “I Know You Want Me,” was released in 2009 and was the first of 15 singles that ended up on Billboard’s Top 40, including two No. 1 singles, the suit states.
Pitbull has gone on to sell more than 70 million singles and Latium also has assisted him in getting worldwide concert tours as well as major brand endorsement deals, the suit states. The rapper also has hosted the American Music Awards and other television specials with Latium’s help, the suit states.
Pitbull “repeatedly and consistently confirmed” that Latium would receive a 10 share of all of the singer’s entertainment activities, the suit alleges.
However, when the two sides parted company in March 2015, Pitbull stopped paying further commissions and royalties generated from albums on which Latium participated, the suit states.
