You're assuming French and Max would always stuck together like shadow. If French wasn't getting the bag he would he just gone somewhere else, which is exactly what he did when he left NY from Miami/Atlanta. He don't rely on anybody for his paper. He collabs with someone, then someone else.
Max was already blackballed, so I can't picture him ever breaking superstar status unless he made some similar moves to get tf outta the Tri-State Area. For say California, where he made a little bit of movement when he recorded the Domain Diego tape.