Verzuz Could be in Danger After Triller Takeover
Cultural phenomenon known as Verzuz, took the world by storm during the Covid-19 pandemic. Swizz Beatz and Timbaland conceived the idea of Verzuz all the way back in 2017, when eventually during 2020 the idea caught fire. Artists ranging from Erykah Badu, Teddy Riley, Jagged Edge, The Dream and so many more have participated in the event since March 24th when Swizz Beatz faced Timbaland one on one.
It seemed like the culture had a platform, a platform the world has missed since MTV’s decline. It was owned by cultural figures and had executive power from widely-respected cultural figures. Almost a year later from March 24, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz sold their prize to none other than the Triller platform. Triller is not an ownership with cultural respect, knowledge, and care. We have still seen strong artists appear since this change in ownership. Keith Sweat faced off against Bobby Brown. SWV faced off against Xscape. Those were some of the best Verzuz episodes yet. It has continued on strong. However there is great concern that the future of Triller is not in good hands.
This is where we’ll take the chance to examine Triller’s co-owner, Ryan Kavanaugh. Ryan Kavanaugh was friends with Harvey Weinstein, good friends. That, somehow, is not anywhere near the apex of Kavanaugh’s antics. That one time where his ex-partner accused him of running a ponzi scheme was interesting. He’s also being sued for fraud according to Variety. He’s also being sued by a former Relativity Media executive for propagating a “hostile” work environment, according to Los Angeles Times. There’s even this fascinating story from the New York Post alleging Kavanaugh may have made up sexual harassment allegations. On top of all of this, he is suing h3h3Productions after a long feud when H3 and Ethan Klein aired part of a Triller fight between Jake Paul and Ben Askren. What makes this claim absurd is that the clip shown on H3 falls under fair-use copyright and youtube laws.
Youtube Help is a great source defining fair-use. Youtube Help states, “Courts typically focus on whether the use of copyright-protected material is “transformative.” This means whether the use adds new expression or meaning to the original material, or whether it merely copies from the original.” Ethan Klein’s use of it was a matter of a few seconds and was transformative. It is the same fair use that is used every day on Youtube and it is absurd to start a lawsuit over. This is a pettiness due to H3’s tendency to discuss Ryan Kavanaugh’s antics. Kavanaugh even went as far to absurdly claim Ethan Klein is creating multiple accounts to harass him. In reality, the H3 fanbase has just been critical of Ryan on their own. h3h3Productions has 6.3 million subscribers on Youtube for instance. They have a lot of fans.
Ryan Kavanaugh is a wildly detached multimillionaire with a history of problematic tendencies. It is shocking that Swizz Beatz and Timbaland sold Verzuz to Triller, putting a very healthy part of the culture in the hands of a very toxic person. Swizz Beatz and Timbaland sold out the culture.