TDE President Punch ‘Abruptly’ Steps Away From Managing SZA
SZA is no longer being managed by Top Dawg Entertainment president Terrence “Punch” Henderson. In a series of Instagram comments, the singer and songwriter revealed that their often contentious manager-client relationship came to an end after Henderson “stepped away abruptly” from his managerial responsibilities.
“Nothing to celebrate. The end of an era,” SZA commented on a post from a fan account sharing news of the split. “I wish him the best. Whatever his choices may be.” Fans in the comments, who have developed their own complex understanding of Punch in recent years, appeared to be confused by the news. They wondered what it would mean for the singer going forward and who initiated the split. In a separate comment, SZA shared: “To be clear I love punch deeply ! NO ONE should be attacking him or being cruel on my behalf . Sometimes ppl grow apart and that’s okay.”
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Representatives for SZA did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
Now, the musician is doing her best to get the extended release of Lana, the already expanded edition of SOS, back on track. Shortly after the 15-track addendum arrived on Dec. 20, SZA shared a screenshot of a text exchange with Punch in which she pushed for three additional songs to be added to the release. “I think we should def let this breathe for a week at least,” he responded. “Give it to them for new years or Christmas.” SZA captioned the post: “King being kind n finna let me purge it all .. yes im secretly begging for more than this lmao everybody say thank you @iamstillpunch.”
Christmas has passed, and 2025 is coming up fast, but SZA is currently reconfiguring her path forward. “Those were tracks punch and I spoke about releasing together prior,” she shared on Instagram. “Obviously he stepped away abruptly so sorting the drop out was a bit tricky . Pls Give me a second .. they’ll be loaded.”
The arrival of Lana itself was delayed by a few hours, for which Punch claimed responsibility without sharing any specific details about what caused the holdup. Last year, he told Variety that he doesn’t mind standing in the line of fire for SZA if it means she can focus on the music. “I understand that people need a fall guy, a bad guy,” he said. “So I prefer that to be me than the artist. I don’t need her focusing on that while she’s making these records. I’ll take that.”
Punch was not SZA’s sole manager — she has at least two others — but as TDE president, he inherently played a bigger role in her release schedule. He signed her as the label’s first woman artist in 2013 and worked with her through the years-long stretch between CTRL and SOS.
In 2022, Punch spoke with Vulture about SZA’s relationship with TDE as a label. “I’m not going to say there’s never been contention. There’s always contention, especially when you’re dealing with creative,” he said. “Difference in opinions, it happens, but that doesn’t mean somebody is unhappy or anything. It could’ve been a conversation in the moment. Then a lot of speculation happens. I get it. We have to remember that context is important and you never get the full story through tweets.”
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