Maverick City Music Sues Co-Founder Over Competing Worship Project

Maverick City Music has escalated its legal fight with co-founder Tony Brown, filing a lawsuit that accuses him of violating the terms of his exit from the company by launching a rival worship collective. The Grammy-winning group is seeking $10 million in damages, arguing that Brown’s new project crosses boundaries set in his buyout agreement and breached his original contract.

Brown has been in a legal dispute with Maverick City since 2024, when he claimed he was pressured into accepting an unfair separation deal. The company denies those allegations and says Brown breached that agreement by helping launch God Aura, a worship project under the nonprofit Unseen Voices, which released its first album, “Wonderful Child”, on December 5th.

According to Maverick City, the new venture closely echoes the creative model that made the group successful and draws from the same pool of artists and collaborators, including several of the collective’s best-known contributors. The suit also alleges Brown has attempted to recruit talent from Maverick City’s orbit and blur the lines between the two projects.

Brown’s legal team argues that the restrictions Maverick City is trying to enforce are invalid because the company never paid him what he was owed under the buyout. A judge has not yet ruled on the matter since the initial hearing on Monday.

Brown’s lawyer, Gary Freed, stated, “We do not believe the non-competition provision is enforceable because of their failure to pay him the compensation they promised him for it.”

The dispute arises during a turbulent period for Maverick City, which is also facing a separate lawsuit from former member Chandler Moore following his exit from the group after claiming millions of dollars of royalties were stolen from him. Maverick City has shot back, saying that it was wildly untrue. In the midst of seemingly constant legal conflict, it’s debatable what will come next for the collective.