Hall and Oates’ Legal Drama Suddenly Ends Behind Closed Doors

The court battle between Daryl Hall and John Oates has been quietly settled. They’d entered arbitration following an attempt by Oates to sell his stake in their partnership as Hall and Oates over Hall’s objection.

An new status report was filed Monday after the judge asked for an update, Rolling Stone reports. The filing did not release any details about the new agreement or when their arbitration officially ended.

“The claims have been adjudicated in arbitration,” Hall’s attorneys wrote in the status report, filed in Nashville court. “Given the entry of final judgment in arbitration, plaintiffs will be contemporaneously filing a notice of voluntary dismissal with the court.”

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This update was the first official filing from either side since their sudden, very public split in 2023. Asked by The Times of London earlier this year if Hall and Oates’ ship had sailed, Hall memorably replied: “That ship has gone to the bottom of the ocean.” His erstwhile partner agreed. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve moved on,” Oates told Rolling Stone. “I feel like I have a new lease on my creative life.”

They’ve both since issued solo albums. Hall released an project simply titled D in 2024, reuniting with producer Dave Stewart from 1986’s Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine. Oates will follow up 2024’s Reunion with Oates, due on Aug. 29.

What Led to Hall and Oates’ Split?

Their partnership, called Whole Oats Enterprises, oversees Hall and Oates’ royalty income, personal name and likeness rights, trademarks, and social media and website properties. Oates intended to sell his share to Primary Wave, according to the court filings, but Hall said he didn’t agree with the company’s business model.

“I was blindsided,” Hall wrote in his original filing with the court. “I have no intention of becoming partners with Primary Wave, and the Oates Trust cannot be permitted to thrust a new partner upon me in this outrageous fashion.”

In his own filing, Oates said they were already in arbitration. Oates added that he was “tremendously disappointed” that Hall made “inflammatory, outlandish, and inaccurate statements about me.”