The drama concerning FaZe Clan never seems to end, as the esports gaming team has moved forward in their efforts to sue their most famous member, Turner “Tfue” Tenney, a popular and skilled Fortnite player. The group claims that the team was damaged by Tfue through an effort to avoid his contractual obligations.
Earlier this year, the trouble began when Tfue went public with his desire to leave the team or fix the contract offered to him when he first joined the organization. The most important issue then was that Tfue claimed the contract demanded a ludicrous 80% of his brand deals and 50% of merchandise profits. The contract was apparently so bad that FaZe Clan owner Ricky Banks called the agreement “trash” and pledged to sit with Tfue to sort things out.
Clearly, things must not have gone as FaZe Clan expected if, after having admitted to locking Tfue into a contract described as “trash,” they are now resorting to litigation to settle their dispute. Interestingly, now they seem to be stating that Tfue was little more than a skilled player when they first signed him, and FaZe Clan transformed him into the player he is today. They also state that, because Tfue spoke negatively about the organization, their reputation has been damaged.
For now, this all appears to be a bit of a publicity stunt. TMZ Sports spoke with Bryan Freedman, the attorney representing Tfue in this matter. He states that "Faze Clan’s lawsuit in New York is a ridiculous and obvious attempt to avoid the consequences of its clear violations of California law." Furthermore, Freedman adds that, in the lawsuit in New York, "Faze Clan actually admits to violating California’s Talent Agencies Act by procuring employment without a license. Equally egregious is the fact that Faze Clan is suing Turner under its illegal contract for the monies it publicly represented that it was not collecting."
"This is the first time in the history of Esports that an Organization has had the audacity to try and enforce contractual provisions that are so clearly illegal against one of its gamers," finally states Freedman. These are powerful words and are likely to resonate with fans of Tfue.
In the end, the outcome of these tumultuous times between FaZe Clan and Tfue are important for future players who may be looking for an organization to join, as well as for organizations seeking new players.
The heart of the problem in this case is that FaZe Clan created an extremely one-sided agreement that benefited them far more than Tfue, called the agreement trash when discovered, and are now trying to enforce the contract and collect some manner of damages for having their behavior exposed.
Potential players should make sure and vet an organization and its offered contracts before joining, as there are many others like FaZe Clan who seem similarly inexpressive of regret in composing these unfair contracts. However, more significantly, they seem willing to go to extreme lengths to uphold their unfair practices.