As YoungBoy Never Broke Again prepares to embark on his MASA Tour this September, the rapper has been hit with a lawsuit for allegedly trying to cut an established merchandise partner out of his first-ever headlining trek.
YoungBoy (Kentrell DeSean Gaulden) and his label Never Broke Again face the claims in a federal complaint filed Friday (Aug. 8) by retail partner Westside Merchandising. The company supposedly paid YoungBoy a $1 million advance in 2023 as part of a licensing deal that gave the company the exclusive right to sell the rapper’s apparel and other merch online and at live shows.
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Westside says the deal requires YoungBoy to promote the company’s merch — obligations he’s largely shirked due to being in prison on gun charges for the majority of the contract. Yet even now that YoungBoy is free (and pardoned by President Donald Trump), he’s allegedly still not marketing the apparel on Instagram as promised.
In fact, soon after announcing his MASA arena tour in May, YoungBoy sent Westside a letter announcing he was terminating their contract due to “poor performance” on the company’s part.
“The purpose behind defendants’ purported termination is clear: YoungBoy has embarked on a nationwide 32-date lucrative tour, and defendants have obviously obtained a new advance from another company to handle the touring merchandise even though defendants are contractually obligated to use Westside,” reads the complaint. “Westside has an exclusive license to sell Never Broke Again merchandise — rights that upon information and belief will be infringed by the new merchandise that will be sold at YoungBoy’s upcoming tour.”
Westside is now seeking a court order confirming that it is entitled to handle merch at the MASA Tour — scheduled to kick off Sept. 1 at Dallas’ American Airlines Center — as well as financial damages from YoungBoy.
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The lawsuit alleges that, in addition to trying to cut Westside out of the MASA Tour, YoungBoy also breached the licensing contract by promoting a competitor’s merch and getting in the way of Westside’s business efforts.
Westside says, for example, that YoungBoy ruined a potentially lucrative partnership to sell the rapper’s merch at the retail chain Pure Atlanta by insulting the store’s founder with an Instagram comment that called her “unprofessional and clout chasing.”
“Although Westside was diligent, obtained numerous opportunities for the venture, and performed all of its contractual duties in good faith, YoungBoy did nothing except fail to perform his duties, while impeding Westside’s efforts, and causing the parties to lose significant opportunities and profits,” says the complaint.
Reps for YoungBoy did not immediately return a request for comment on the allegations.