New information has been revealed by the lawyer representing Turner ‘Tfue’ Tenney in the ongoing legal battle with FaZe Clan, suggesting the organization offered his client illegal contracts.
On May 20, Tfue officially filed a lawsuit against the team he represented over a contract which he believed to be “oppressive”, with the organization allegedly taking an 80% cut from his revenue on brand deals.
The three year deal was branded as “horrible” by FaZe co-owner Ricky ‘Banks’ Banks, who was left hurt by the allegations as he considered Tfue to be one of his closest friends, but was adamant that plenty of new lucrative deals were offered in order to keep the 21-year-old on FaZe.
However, in an interview with theScore Esports, Tfue’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, revealed that while his client did receive better contract offers, they were illegal.
“Those contracts provide for illegal procurement without a talent agency license,” he said. “Even worse, those contracts attempted to get Turner to waive the California Talent Agency act. No one could possibly sign something like that because it would be so illegal.”
According to Freedman, FaZe Clan are acting as a talent agency without the required license to do so. Tfue’s legal team has already filed a petition with the California Labor Commission, alleging that FaZe being unlicensed is in violation of the state’s labor laws.
Given his enormous popularity on both YouTube and Twitch, it was suggested that the lawsuit was simply a way of Tfue terminating his contract with FaZe, potentially allowing him to earn more money by working with other brands.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
However, Tfue’s lawyer disclosed that the streamer had actually counter-offered FaZe with a contract that he would sign, but it was rejected – contradicting the claims from Banks that the organization would do anything to retain him.
Freedman added: “FaZe Clan was presented with a contract that Turner would accept. It was as close to a legal contract as you could get. But that wasn’t good enough for them, they got rid of half of it and made it illegal once again.”
Finally, Freedman admitted that one way or another, Tfue was getting out of his contract with FaZe as the initial contract will be deemed to be “void”.
FaZe Clan were contacted by theScore Esport to add their side to the story, but they refused to comment.
This definitely won’t be the last we hear from the ongoing battle between Tfue and FaZe, so be sure to stay tuned to Dexerto for all the latest developments.