Timbaland Sues Former Managers for $15 Million in Los Angeles Court

Timbaland filed a $15 million lawsuit against his former managers on Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The 75-page complaint targets Gary Marella and business manager Bruce Seckendorf, and arrives weeks after Marella publicly blamed the producer for his own money troubles.

The Grammy-winning producer, whose legal name is Timothy Mosley, alleges the men used "their entrusted authority to enrich themselves and others, conceal financial misconduct, and deplete Timbaland's valuable assets." Mosley hired them in 2016 after uncovering alleged misconduct by a prior management team.

"Mr. Marella is the one attempting to shift responsibility here," the producer's lawyer, Tynia Coats, said in a statement sent to Rolling Stone on Monday. "Timbaland hired him to manage his business affairs and protect his interests. Holding someone accountable for the responsibilities they were hired and paid to perform is not shifting blame."

What does the lawsuit allege?

The complaint, obtained by Rolling Stone, details a series of specific financial claims:

• Marella took at least $2.5 million in "excessive or unauthorized" commissions.
• He saddled Mosley with fees, reimbursements and "undisclosed American Express cards" allegedly used for groceries, cosmetic medical procedures and family vacations.
• When Mosley received two $5 million payments in 2021 from Verzuz, the platform he created with Swizz Beatz, Marella was entitled to $1 million in commissions but instead took two payments of $750,000.
• Marella and his company "took $775,000 more than their authorized 10 percent commission" from Mosley's 2019 Hipgnosis catalog sale.
• Marella "grossly mismanaged" their Beatclub venture, treating it like "a piggy bank to repair the problems he created."

Mosley accuses Seckendorf of facilitating unauthorized payments, failing to disclose irregularities, failing to pay his taxes and mortgage, and taking a cut of sale proceeds without transparent accounting. The producer says the "scheme began to unravel in March 2025," when a foreclosure notice arrived at his home.

What does Marella say?

Marella, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the lawsuit, placed the blame squarely on Mosley.

"Unfortunately, Tim is attempting to shift responsibility for his own overspending and financial decisions onto someone else (again) as he did before we managed him," Marella said. "When I began managing him in 2017, long after producing his biggest hits, he was already broke and in debt, had spent all of his money, and was living in a rental. His financial problems did not begin with me. I came in to help rebuild his business. Over approximately nine years, we generated roughly $75 million in business. Despite that, Tim continued spending beyond his means, ultimately having to sell his home last year due to his actions and move into a rental in Coral Gables. Those were the consequences of his own financial decisions, no one else."

Marella and Seckendorf did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Falsified records alleged

Mosley and Coats responded on Monday that the issue is not "a problem with the artist's spending" and said they would "welcome a full accounting showing how Timbaland allegedly spent that money." They claim evidence shows financial records were falsified to indicate a third-party consultant received $16,000 when he actually received $165,000. They further claim emails were altered to make it appear Mosley approved paying an attorney $250,000 instead of $100,000.

The lawsuit includes claims for breach of fiduciary duty, fraudulent concealment, breach of contract and civil theft. It estimates damages exceeding $15 million and requests a jury trial, setting up a public courtroom reckoning over who spent the fortune behind some of pop's biggest hits.