HOUSTON — Bun B and his Trill Burgers co-owners are in the middle of a legal battle with their former partners, according to court documents.
The owners of the popular burger joint first sued their ex-partners, who then countersued.
In the lawsuit filed in August 2023 by the current owners, Trill Burgers LLC alleges that Benson and Patsy Vivares, who are brother and sister, misappropriated tens of thousands of dollars of the company's money when the burger concept was operating as a pop-up.
"Bun did make a mistake. He did something wrong. And that thing was trusting Patsy and Benson Vivares," Chris Adams, the rapper's attorney told us. "That's the only bad thing that he did."
The Trill Burger pop-ups began in 2021 and early 2022 and included a "very successful booth at the Houston Rodeo," where they made a lot of money, according to the suit.
It alleges the Vivares siblings controlled the finances and they funneled Trill Burgers money into their now-closed restaurant called Sticky's Chicken. It cites a text message on March 24, 2022, said to be from Patsy Vivares. The message from here, according to the lawsuit, was, "I used $45,000 of the rodeo money to pay for stickeys. These bills were pressing & were threatening to shut us down."
Trill Burgers LLC claims the defendants weren't being transparent about the finances and the siblings eventually turned them over to the company. The lawsuit claims, "The remaining balance was significantly less than what it should have been and it was clear that funds were missing."
"We never stole the money. We never stole anything," Patsy Vivares told us on Friday.
In July 2022, Trill Burgers terminated its partnership with the siblings and later sued to recover the $45,000.
On Feb. 26, the Vivares siblings countersued Trill Burgers, alleging Bun B, whose real name is Bernard Freeman, and two partners took their burger recipe and cut them out of the business.
"The flavor profile of it, that's what we invented. The caramelized onions, the spices they put in the meat. That was all us," Patsy Vivares said.
The countersuit says the brother and sister recruited Bun B to be the "face" of Trill Burgers, saying "Bun B was invited to the party. He did not start it"
"Lacking in character and masquerading as the genius architect behind the wildly successful Trill Burgers, Bun B is attempting to hoodwink his partners -- Patsy and BJ -- and loot Trill Burgers, LLC, the company set up to operate a smash burger operation," the countersuit claims. "Let it be known: the "Trill Burger" was not Bun B's idea; nor was it the result of his sweat, equity, or ingenuity. Patsy and BJ are the true heroes. This brother and sister duo -- recognized contributors to HTX's dynamic food scene -- made Trill Burgers possible."
A Harris County court will hear this case at the end of April.