The Twitch streamer Turner “Tfue” Tenney is a professional Fortnite player. He is now suing his own clan, the eSports organization FaZe, claiming they are siphoning off up to 80% of his income from certain sources. The clan responds in shock to these allegations.
This is what the lawsuit is about: The legal document is fully accessible and spans 23 pages (via scribd.com).
The lawsuit states that FaZe’s business model consists of “owning” Fortnite star Tfue (21) and other streamers. Tfue signed a gamer agreement when he was 20. This agreement is one-sided, burdensome, and oppressive for him:
- He has to give up to 80% of his earnings from third parties as a “finder’s fee” for the FaZe clan.
- He also accuses the clan of having acted as his agents and received money from sponsors for things Tfue has done, but did not pass the money on to him.
- Additionally, FaZe allegedly declined a sponsor deal in his name due to a conflict of interest.
It becomes clear throughout the lawsuit that Tfue has been trying to terminate this “gamer agreement” with FaZe since September 2018, but they will not let him out of the contract.
Drinking, Gambling, and Skateboard Stunts
This is what Tfue additionally says: In a conversation with Hollywood Reporter, Tfue adds further accusations.
It is said that the FaZe clan pressured him to live in a house in the Hollywood Hills with other young YouTubers. In this house, he allegedly received alcohol despite being under 21, and was encouraged to participate in illegal gambling.
He was also encouraged to participate in dangerous stunts that were later published in videos – in one of the videos, he injured his arm while skateboarding.
FaZe says: We only made $60,000 with Tfue
How the clan responds: The eSports organization FaZe has been active in Fortnite since March 2018. FaZe has issued two statements in response. The first states that they are shocked and disappointed by these allegations from Tfue.
They state that they have taken nothing from his direct revenues and nothing from his tournament winnings. In total, they claim to have only pulled $60,000 from the partnership – approximately 53,000€.
In a second statement, it is said that while there was such an 80% clause, it was only for sponsored deals where the deal was brought to Tfue by FaZe. However, this clause was never enforced and is now outdated.
They state that they have been trying to work with Tfue since September 2018 and offer him a significantly better contract; some contract drafts included a bonus in the millions – while others would have seen FaZe receive 0% of the revenues.
All of these contract proposals have been rejected or ignored.
“I made Tfue”
This is what the founder of the clan says: A central figure in FaZe is the founder of the clan, Ricky “Banks” Banks (27).
He was on an internet talk show yesterday evening and active on Twitter. There, he addressed the allegations from Tfue and narrated his version of the story.
Banks states that this legal dispute is solely about Tfue wanting out of the contract and doing everything to get out. He is using everything as leverage against FaZe.
According to Banks, Tfue just wants more money. Tfue thinks he is entitled to an additional million-dollar salary on top of what he is already making in millions across his platforms.
Banks claims he discovered Tfue when he had 100 viewers on Twitch. He made Tfue “possible” and supported his rise.
Apparently, the signs were not good for Tfue:
- So the current partner of Tfue, FaZe Cloak, reportedly said about Tenney as a Fortnite player: “The kid is trash, he doesn’t know what he’s building and he doesn’t know what to carry.” Banks then pleaded with Cloak to play with Tfue.
- Even back then, Tfue drank a lot – he was not pressured to do so at all. Also, his current girlfriend met Tfue at a FaZe party, where Tfue also drank.
- Even before Tfue signed with FaZe, he was doing stunts where he could have injured himself. Tfue himself encouraged others to perform such stunts.
- What Tfue means by “illegal gambling” is something Banks cannot understand.
Furthermore, the FaZe clan is not concerned with money. Tfue earns millions every month, and they have only pulled $60,000 from the relationship in total. That is 20% of $300,000 from two brand deals that they themselves brought to Tfue.
Banks states that the situation frustrates him personally because he has invested so much in the kid since the day he met him.
Tfue: Meteoric Rise in 13 Months
This is what it’s about: It seems clear that Tfue really wants out of the contract and FaZe wants to keep him. This is an unfortunate starting position for a collaboration.
The motives also seem clear:
- Tfue wants to self-manage – just like Ninja does with his wife Jessica, he likely sees even more opportunities
- and the FaZe clan wants to benefit from having discovered Tfue, who has now become a giant star
However, the role of FaZe seems strange when they repeatedly say: they have clauses but never enforce them. This makes the clan vulnerable and seems unprofessional.
Why does FaZe have such “80%, if we bring you the deal” clauses in the contract if they never intend to enforce them?
In any case, these 80% are currently causing a lot of trouble and content creators are shaking their heads over these figures.
The question remains how this will proceed if Tfue desperately wants to end the contract – but the clan does not let him.
It is interesting to note that Tfue was really so small in April 2018, when he signed the contract – and now, a year later, he has become one of the biggest Twitch streamers in the world and a big name in Fortnite. Tfue has also qualified for the World Championships.
This shows how significantly the situation has changed and likely leads to the conflicts, as the clan leader now says he “made” Tfue.
The incident is currently generating a lot of headlines and will certainly take some developments.
