C+C Music Factory co-founder Robert Clivillés is publicly threatening to sue frontman Freedom Williams over his continued use of the group's name as a solo act.
Their ongoing dispute escalated on Tuesday (June 2) when Clivillés took to Instagram to call for legal action against Williams, accusing him of defamation and misuse of the C+C Music Factory brand.
In a lengthy post, Clivillés wrote, “Time for the estate of David Cole and Robert Clivillés to sue Freedom William for defamation of character and the mis-use of the C&C Music Factory with Racial Discriminatory, Bigotry, Xenophobic, Prejudiced, Ethnic, racial discrimination and Hate speech."
He continued, "There's more, it's time for you to stop my bro… Drop our name voluntarily or go down in the flames of your stupidity,” before concluding the post with: “The Real C&C Music Factory."
The public fallout follows controversy surrounding the group's involvement in Donald Trump's Freedom 250 concert series.
While several artists withdrew from the event, Williams defended his participation in a seven-minute video filmed while he was on the toilet, arguing that he was performing to “feed his family.”
“I don't fuck with Trump. I don't give a fuck about Trump … I'm from New York. I know the n***a. I know the type of fucking anarchy he creates,” Williams said in the lengthy video. “The day I let you motherfuckers tell me what to do is the day I die. I want to make that shit motherfucking crystal clear. I do not live for none of you n****s. Listen, I will vote for fucking Genghis Khan, Hitler, and motherfucking Ivan the Terrible before I let you n****s tell me what to motherfucking do.”
Williams, who appeared on some of C+C Music Factory's biggest hits, acquired the legal rights to the C+C Music Factory trademark in 2003 and also runs the group's longtime Instagram account.
Clivilles, who founded the group with the late David Cole, recently launched a separate official C+C Music Factory Instagram account and used it to distance himself from both Williams and the Freedom 250 event.
In the account's first post, he wrote, "PLEASE be aware that Freedom Williams has done his best to misuse our name - C&C Music Factory which actually stands for: Cliviles & Cole Music Factory."
He added, "Freedom Williams in all honesty should not be using it to tour or represent what this group stands for in any way without permission, if he was a man of honor and truth he would honestly stop."
Known for early '90s hits including "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" and "Things That Make You Go Hmmm...," the group's 1990 debut album Gonna Make You Sweat was certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 5.6 million copies in the United States.
