Report: DJ Khaled Planning 'Monster Lawsuit' Against Billboard

Billboard Billi is taking legal action.

According to Page Six, DJ Khaled is planning a “monster lawsuit” against Billboard, alleging the chart organization unfairly disqualified more than 100,000 in sales of his album Father of Asahd, which cost him the No. 1 spot.

Khaled was apparently furious when his album came in at No.  2 to Tyler, the Creator’s IGOR. He was reportedly told that an estimated 100,000 downloads that were sold through a bundle deal with an energy drink would count towards his Billboard stats. Billboard backtracked and disqualified Khaled’s entire sales from the promotion, saying there were “strange anomalies in the data.”

Lawyers for Khaled have sent a legal letter to Silvio Pietroluongo, SVP of charts and data development at Billboard. “When Khaled’s team tried to appeal, Billboard refused to budge,” said a source.

Bundling has become a standard but controversial industry practice to boost sales. Tyler, the Creator also bundled IGOR with merch including T-shirts and posters. He topped the Billboard 200 with 165,000 equivalent album units, while Khaled placed second with 136,000 units of Father of Asahd.

Billboard is reviewing its rules allowing artists to bundle albums with merch and will outline a new policy for 2020.