Timbaland Sues His Ex-Managers for $15 Million, Saying He Found Out Only When a Foreclosure Notice Arrived. One Says Timbaland Was 'Already Broke'

Timbaland, the Grammy-winning producer behind Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back" and Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On," has sued his former manager and former business manager, alleging they took millions in unauthorized payments and let his home slide toward foreclosure, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Rolling Stone. The two men deny wrongdoing or had not commented.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, names manager Gary Marella, CEO of Mono Music Group, and business manager Bruce Seckendorf, a partner at LL Business Management, along with Mono Music Group, LL Business Management and the accounting firm Seckendorf Hasson Reilly & Kobay, The Hollywood Reporter reported. It alleges fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, civil theft, fraudulent concealment, breach of contract and misappropriation of his name and likeness, and seeks damages estimated to exceed $15 million and a jury trial, according to Rolling Stone.

These are allegations in a civil complaint. No court has ruled on them.

What the suit alleges

"Defendants used their entrusted authority to enrich themselves and others, conceal financial misconduct, and deplete Timbaland's valuable assets," the complaint says, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.

Timbaland, whose legal name is Timothy Mosley, began working with the two in 2016 after dealing with alleged misconduct by earlier representatives, the suit says. It alleges Marella took at least $2.5 million in "excessive or unauthorized" commissions and charged personal expenses to "undisclosed American Express cards," including groceries, cosmetic medical procedures and family vacations, Rolling Stone reported.

On Verzuz, the online battle series Timbaland created with Swizz Beatz, the suit says he received two $5 million payments in 2021, entitling Marella to $1 million in commission, but Marella took two payments of $750,000, according to Rolling Stone. On the 2019 sale of Timbaland's catalog to Hipgnosis Songs Fund, Marella allegedly took $775,000 more than his 10 percent commission allowed.

The suit says Seckendorf's firm "failed to timely pay substantial federal taxes, causing millions in penalties and interest," and "failed to pay Mosley's mortgage and allowed his home to reach the brink of foreclosure," The Hollywood Reporter reported. It says the firm "prioritized nearly $900,000 in payments to Defendants and attorneys they engaged in five months, while failing to pay for twelve months of mortgage arrears."

According to the complaint, Timbaland learned of the problems only when a foreclosure notice arrived at his home; Rolling Stone said the suit dates that to March 2025, when the "scheme began to unravel." His new lawyers and financial advisers then found "unauthorized payments, concealed credit-card arrangements, falsified communications, undisclosed liabilities, and purported loans Mosley had never knowingly agreed to," the suit says. Both men were terminated in 2025.

The suit also says Marella "grossly mismanaged" Beatclub, a beat marketplace the two co-founded, and treated Timbaland as "a piggy bank to repair the problems he created."

Marella's response

"I strongly dispute these allegations," Marella told The Hollywood Reporter. "Unfortunately, Tim is attempting to shift responsibility for his own overspending and financial decisions onto someone else (again) as he did before we managed him."

"When I began managing him in 2017, long after producing his biggest hits, he was already broke and in debt, had spent all of his money, and was living in a rental," Marella said. He said they generated about $75 million in business over roughly nine years, and that Timbaland "continued spending beyond his means, ultimately having to sell his home last year."

On Hipgnosis, Marella said, "Tim was fully aware of the 15 percent commission I received." On Verzuz, "he was aware of our management commission. His business manager paid us with Tim's approval." He called Beatclub "a startup" and told Rolling Stone, "The allegation that I paid myself without his knowledge is not possible."

Seckendorf did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to both outlets.

Timbaland's reply

"Mr. Marella is the one attempting to shift responsibility here," Timbaland's lawyer, Tynia Coats, said in a statement to Rolling Stone. "Holding someone accountable for the responsibilities they were hired and paid to perform is not shifting blame." Rolling Stone reported that Timbaland and his lawyer said they would "welcome a full accounting."

What is not known

No hearing date was reported, and the defendants had not filed a formal response in court as of the reports reviewed. The Hollywood Reporter described the complaint as 65 pages; Rolling Stone described it as 75 pages.