FaZe Clan are suing Turner ‘Tfue‘ Tenney for a breach of contract after publicly filing a lawsuit and trying to exit the organization back in May 2019.
Tfue, once one of the most famous FaZe members, alleged the organization had him signed to an oppressive contract and they had the option to take up to 80% of his earnings.
FaZe are suing him back with claims he has “betrayed” the team and caused damage to the brand through all of his public claims.
They say Tfue needs to live up to the contract and provided a statement to TMZ, who first reported the news.
“Though a rookie athlete, Tenney was an adult when he signed his contract,” the esports org said. “An initial rookie contract is a risk that the organization takes; most young players young careers never take off.”
Tfue’s deal is supposed to run until 2021 but he has already severed ties with org, removing all mention of them from his Twitter profile and ditched the FaZe Clan overlay on Twitch.
FaZe says they offered several modified contracts to him but he didn’t take any of them as he was more interested in a complete split.
The organization says they discovered Tfue when he was much smaller than he is now and called him your average “skilled gamer” and they were able to transform him into a bankable pro.
They believe he has made more than $20 million in earnings since joining in April 2018 and they have collected $60,000 of that from him.
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The esports team is now coming after their share of Tfue’s earning that hasn’t been collected on.
Tfue is the 17th highest earning Fortnite pro after the World Cup with over $555,000 confirmed earnings so that would be a good chunk of change from Fortnite alone.
Other earnings include revenue from his Fortnite Creator Code, YouTube revenue, and Twitch revenue.
An important thing these lawsuits could come down to is where Tfue resides. His initial suit was filed in California with him claiming residency there and Florida.
FaZe, allegedly, claim he lives in either New Jersey or Florida which could potentially change how the lawsuits playout due to differing state laws, according to esports lawyer Ryan Fairchild.
Tfue's original lawsuit was filed in state court in Los Angeles, CA. I think the main reason for bringing suit there was because of the Talent Agency Act, which could potentially invalidate TFue's contract. 2/10https://t.co/WIpuBVNrBH
— Ryan Fairchild (@FairPlayEsports) August 1, 2019
When news of Tfue’s lawsuit came out, FaZe Clan co-founder Ricky ‘Banks‘ Banks said he was blindsided by the news and released an emotional 20-minute video and said he’ll never forgive him.
Now, it looks like his organization is ready to fight back. We will keep you updated on this story going forward.