Chance the Rapper and his manager Pat Corcoran, who goes by Pat the Manager, were largely inseparable throughout the Chicago MC’s rise from neophyte to global superstar in the 2010s.
Pat served as Chance’s manager from 2012 to 2020, before he was abruptly fired when the relationship soured, and the parties went their separate ways.
Several months after being let go by Chance, Corcoran filed a civil lawsuit against three companies owned by the artist in November 2020, where he claimed he was owed over $3 million in royalties and unpaid commissions.
What makes things tricky from a legal standpoint is that Chance and Pat the Manager operated with handshake and spoken agreements, rather than handwritten contracts specifying the terms of the artist-manager relationship.
Chance the Rapper (born Chancelor Bennett) attempted to get Corcoran’s case dismissed — which largely went unsuccessfully — and then countersued Corcoran in February 2021, claiming a breach of contract and seeking $1 million in damages.
Chance has since replaced Corcoran with his father (Ken Bennett) and brother (Taylor Bennett) filling management roles on his team.
Following an extended hiatus after the release of his critically panned official debut LP The Big Day in 2019, Chance returned with his sophomore album, Star Line, last August, which debuted at No. 22 on the Billboard 200. He then hit the road for his first headlining tour of the 2020s.
With the trail of Corcoran’s lawsuit against Chance now underway in Illinois, here’s a timeline untangling the legal mess between Chance the Rapper and his former manager.
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April 2020: Chance Fires Pat the Manager
Chance the Rapper relieved Pat the Manager of his duties in April 2020, after he’d served as Chance’s manager since 2012.
During his testimony in March 2026, Chance claimed that the relationship began to deteriorate in 2019, and they were essentially “estranged” for the first quarter of 2020.
Chance ended up filing an official termination letter on April 27, 2020, as he feared legal retaliation from Pat. “I literally believe that I have to do this, because I think this dude is going to try and file a lawsuit against me and I need to have an end date,” Chance testified, according to Music Business Worldwide.
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November 2020: Pat the Manager Files Civil Lawsuit Against Chance
Months after being fired, Corcoran filed a civil lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Chance and the three companies he owns (Chance the Rapper LLC, Cool Pop Merch LLC and CTR Touring, Inc.).
Corcoran sought a reimbursement of $2.5 million that he claimed he poured into supporting Chance’s career, as well as over $3 million in unpaid commissions and 15 percent of Chance’s net profits through three years after being terminated, which would extend into April 2023.
He claims they entered into a spoken agreement in 2013 with a sunset clause, which is defined by LegalZoom as “provisions in contracts [and] agreements that establish temporary terms and conditions that expire after a set time period.” Chance has denied there ever being a sunset clause agreement.
Corcoran claims that Chance’s father, Ken Bennett, offered him a one-time payment of $350,000 in response to his request for more than $3 million in unpaid commissions. Among the counts, Corcoran is suing for breach of contract, violation of the Illinois Sales Representative Act and unjust enrichment.
“Mr. Corcoran has filed a suit for allegedly unpaid commissions. In fact, Mr. Corcoran has been paid all of the commissions to which he is legally entitled,” Chance’s legal team told Billboard at the time. “Most of the complaint consists of self-serving and fabricated allegations that are wholly unrelated to Mr. Corcoran’s claim for commissions and were plainly included in a calculated attempt to seek attention. Those allegations are wholly without merit, are grossly offensive and we will respond to them within the context of the litigation.”
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February 2021: Chance Countersues Pat the Manager
In February 2021, Chance the Rapper filed a complaint against Corcoran in Cook County Circuit court, alleging that Pat the Manager “breached his fiduciary responsibilities” and exploited Chance for his own benefit, while accepting “kickbacks.”
Chance alleged that Corcoran “abdicated his managerial responsibilities” while the MC was crafting his The Big Day LP, and didn’t come up with a proper plan to market the LP.
The Chicago rapper demanded at least $1 million in damages while filing against Corcoran for counts of breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference with prospective economic advantage and breach of contract.
“Mr. Corcoran has been paid in full under his management services contract with Mr. Bennett. Yet he chose to file a groundless and insulting lawsuit that ignores his own improper self-dealing and incompetence,” Chance’s legal team told Billboard at the time. “Mr. Bennett has moved to dismiss the majority of that meritless lawsuit, and filed his own lawsuit to remedy the harm that Mr. Corcoran caused through his breaches of duty. Mr. Bennett trusts the legal system to reveal the truth of the parties’ relationship in due course.”
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July 2021: Court Dismisses Multiple Corcoran Claims But Allows Commissions Allegation to Move Forward
An Illinois state court judge tossed nearly all of the claims made in Corcoran’s lawsuit against Chance, except for one. According to Law360, the court moved forward with the allegation of Corcoran’s claim of being owed millions in commissions for the three years after their business relationship was severed.
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March 2025: Court Rejects Chance’s Motion to Have Corcoran’s Lawsuit Thrown Out
An Illinois judge rejected Chance’s motion for partial summary judgment in the lawsuit filed by Corcoran against the Coloring Book rapper. The judge said Corcoran’s remaining claims were strong enough to go to trial and be decided by a jury.
“We respectfully believe that the Court incorrectly denied summary judgment, as there is no legal or factual basis for Mr. Corcoran or his entity to obtain additional compensation from Mr. Bennett or his entities for a full three years after Mr. Corcoran was fired,” an attorney for Chance told Music Business Worldwide.
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March 2026: Trial Finally Starts & Chance Testifies
Over five years after Pat the Manager filed his initial complaint against Chance, the trial finally began at Cook County Circuit court on March 4.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the rapper took the stand on March 10 and testified that he never saw his oral agreement with Corcoran as a contract until his ex-manager sued him, and those talks “didn’t address termination.”
“We moved that way forever. We never discussed the sunset clause, we just discussed how I’d pay him. And one thing that stayed consistent is that I paid him his 15 percent [in net profits],” Chance said. “I kept paying him that 15 percent. I can’t think of one situation where he did meaningful work and I didn’t pay him.”
Chance estimated that he paid Corcoran $11 million during his eight-year tenure as his manager from 2012 through 2020, and said Corcoran was “definitely” the member of his team who got paid the most by his company. “I probably should have fired him [sooner],” he added, questioning his loyalty in later years of their partnership.
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