Timbaland Sues Former Managers, Seeking More Than $15 Million
Timbaland has sued his former managers for more than $15 million, accusing them of fraud and civil theft. The case was filed on Friday, 30 October 2026, in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Gary Marella and Bruce Seckendorf. Timbaland is the stage name of the producer and songwriter Timothy Mosley.
Marella managed Mosley's career. Seckendorf worked as his business manager, the person who handles a client's bills, taxes and money matters. According to Rolling Stone, the complaint says the two men took over Mosley's finances in 2016, after alleged misconduct by an earlier management team.
The lawsuit makes a series of specific claims. It says Marella took at least $2.5 million in excessive or unauthorised commissions, the percentage a manager earns from a client's income. It also says Marella left Mosley with American Express cards he did not know about, which were allegedly used for groceries, cosmetic medical procedures and family holidays.
Money from Verzuz, the online battle-show platform Mosley created with Swizz Beatz, is also part of the complaint. The filing alleges Mosley received two $5 million payments in 2021. It says Marella was entitled to $1 million in commissions but took two payments of $750,000 each.
A 2019 sale is another focus. Mosley sold part of his song catalogue to Hipgnosis, a company that buys the rights to songs and the royalties they earn. The lawsuit alleges Marella and his company took $775,000 more than the 10 percent commission they were authorised to take. The complaint also describes Marella as having mismanaged the Beatclub venture, treating it, in the filing's words, like a piggy bank to repair problems he had created.
The claims against Seckendorf are different in kind. The lawsuit accuses him of approving unauthorised payments, failing to disclose irregularities, failing to pay Mosley's taxes and mortgage, and taking a share of sale proceeds without clear accounting.
The complaint says the arrangement began to fall apart in March 2025, when a foreclosure notice arrived at Mosley's home. A foreclosure is the legal process a lender uses to take a property after the mortgage goes unpaid.
Marella has responded. He told Rolling Stone that Mosley is trying to shift responsibility for his own overspending and financial decisions. He says that when he began managing Mosley in 2017, Mosley was already broke, in debt and living in a rental. Marella also claims his team generated roughly $75 million in business for Mosley over about nine years, and that Mosley kept spending beyond his means, selling his home last year and moving into a rental in Coral Gables, Florida.
Timbaland's lawyer, Tynia Coats, sent a statement to Rolling Stone. She said that holding someone accountable for duties they were hired and paid to perform is not shifting blame.
The lawsuit was filed with the Los Angeles court and reported by several outlets in the days that followed. Its claims are allegations, and no court has ruled on them. Marella and Seckendorf have not had their side tested in front of a judge yet, and the case is at an early stage.
