FaZe Tfue sues FaZe Clan

Who is FaZe Tfue?

Turney Tenney, better known as Tfue in the online community, is an American eSports player who gained his massive followings by streaming Fortnite on Twitch. Early April of 2018, with only 70,000 subscribers on YouTube, Tfue was invited to the Faze Clan, which was a professional eSports and entertainment team with extremely well-known persons such as FaZe Bank, FaZe Rug, and although not necessarily part of Faze, RiceGum. His Twitch and YouTube popularity skyrocketed and his fan base grew at an exponential rate. He was deemed the “best player in the world” on Fortnite and has a staggering 6 million Twitch followers along with 10 million YouTube subscribers; his net worth is an estimated $10 million. All of these are gained through brand deals, social media platforms, and money that he had previously win from gaming tournaments. All was about to change on May 20, 2019. 

“Limiting his ability to pursue his profession”

On May 20th, 2019, Tfue sued Faze Clan for allegedly limiting his ability to pursue his profession under violation of California law, where both Tfue and his “ex-team” currently resides. He claims that he is missing out on “lucrative opportunities” because of the so-called “illegal activities” of the organization regarding the contract in which he signed one year ago. Furthermore, claims made by Tfue include how he only receives 20% of the revenue from any branded videos that are published on Twitch, YouTube or social media, and half of his revenue from touring and appearances. The main concern in his complaint is that he has to do things that are favorable for Faze, but could be damaging to his own profile. For example, he would have to give up brand deals and sponsorships because it was a conflict of interest for the organization that he was working for.

(Personally, I think this is completely ludicrous because he agreed to be part of a team already, therefore, he should be willing to make sacrifices. Not only does the team help him with his rapid success and earn him millions, but they are also willing to provide him with alternative resources and other brandings.)

A major accusation that Tfue made was also that members of Faze were pressuring him to drink and encourages him to illegally gamble whilst in the Faze house. That was when Turner Tenner decided to leave the house to take control of his career.

FaZe Clan’s response to today’s press article regarding Tfue: https://t.co/eVdRVMnRpl—
FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) May 20, 2019

A statement made by the Faze Clan the day Tfue released his lawsuit:

FaZe Banks and Tfue

After Faze Clan addressed the issue on Twitter, Ricky “FaZe Banks” Banks made a video response on YouTube, clearly distressed and disappointed about this unexpected betrayal. He talked about how Tfue was always the one that was pressuring people to do stuff and how he was always the adventurous one. He also says that the team gave him was his main support and it was really hurtful to see him make such accusations. Tfue reciprocates by saying that all allegations about being pressured to drink and engage in illegal activities shall be resigned to the allegation and removed; claiming that he didn’t want that part in the lawsuit and will have his lawyer disclose it. Moreover, Tfue urges his contract to be released to the public and apparently, what he’s been saying was true. On May 23, 2019, the contract has been leaked by ‘The Blast News’. The contract states that Tfue only gets 80% of brand deals, 50% of merchandise, 50% brand deals, 50% appearance fees, and 20% Prize Pools, which sums up only having 50% of what he earns towards FaZe Clan. Since the release of FaZe Banks video on Turner, he lost over 30,000 subscribers on YouTube, with Banks gaining over 200,000 subscribers thanks to the video. But since Tfue’s response, he was starting to gain fans again at a fast rate.