According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 21-year-old is now suing his gaming organization, FaZe Clan, over his contract.
First signing with FaZe in April 2018, Tfue signed the company’s gamer agreement, which states he cannot procure other opportunities not sourced by FaZe, only earns 20% of the income generated by his content that is FaZe branded, and 50% of any touring or live appearance income.
Tfue has employed attorney Bryan Freedman to represent him in these legal matters.
In addition to the limiting non-compete language throughout the gamer agreement, Freedman contends that FaZe has also violated the Talent Agency Act of California.
The Talent Agency Act is a California law enacted to give entertainers and artists the ability to receive any unpaid financial obligations if their representative did not have a talent agency license. This process is in place to ensure no parties profit from illegal or unjust activities. Since FaZe Clan actively engaged in setting up various engagements for its players then it must be licensed by the California Labor Commission.
While FaZe Clan denies all allegations, it told THR that it has “only collected a total of $60,000 from our partnership, while Tfue has earned millions as a member of FaZe clan.” In their statement made via Twitter, FaZe claims their contracts state the exact opposite of the petition presented by Tfue.
The case takes on a much larger scope when looking at the bigger picture. Freedman states that his law firm, Freedman + Taitelman, along with Tfue, is sending a message to the gaming community.
That message? That professional players, content creators, and streamers should have a safe environment free of predatory contracts.
Currently, there are no policies in place to regulate player representatives like those set in place for other entertainment careers. Freedman is looking to set a precedent for the gaming community in terms of players and creators negotiating power and how much control an organization, such as FaZe Clan, has over its members.
