The Band Formerly Known As Lady Antebellum And Blues Singer Anita White Have Settled Their Lawsuits Over Use Of The Name “Lady A”
All of Lady Anti-Antebellum’s closest Black friends must be so relieved that the guidance and counsel they gave to bandmates Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and David Haywood during the summer of Back Lives Matter protests wasn’t all for naught. Lady A’s decision to rebrand themselves as allies by removing the “ntebellum” from their name and praying the rest of the world forgets what the remaining A stands for, has finally paid off. Just not for them. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuits filed by both the members of Lady A and Anita White, the original Lady A who has been using that stage name for 30 years, have been dropped and the parties have settled for an undisclosed sum. Now I don’t know much about Lady A the group, but I do know that Anita is not, and has never been, the one. No way she was walking away from negotiations with anything less than a big fat check with “you tried it” written in the memo line.
The band Lady A’s almost 2-year long performative art piece titled When Pandering Goes Wrong: Hey Were Did Everybody Go, began in June of last year when they announced on Twitter that “after much personal reflection, band discussion, prayer and many honest conversations with some of our closest Black friends and colleagues, we have decided to drop the word ‘antebellum’ from our name and move forward as Lady A, the nickname our fans gave us almost from the start.” Cute, so right off the bat they were already placing blame on their fans for not checking to see if that name was already being used before they reprinted all their merch. When Anita found out a popular country music band that had been recording music and making millions under the name Lady Antebellum for the past 14 years decided to start using her stage name under the guise of racial justice, she spoke up. And shit only got shadier from there. According to THR:
Country group Lady A and blues singer Lady A have settled their legal battle over their shared name. They filed joint requests on Monday for dismissals of their dueling lawsuits.
Details of the settlement are not public, meaning it’s not clear yet if both the group and the singer can use the name and what the terms of that use are.
The band dropped antebellum from its name in June 2020 amid protests over the murder George Floyd. It stated, “We did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word referring to the period of history before the Civil War, which includes slavery.”
But Anita White had also been performing under the name Lady A for nearly 30 years. Settlement discussions on sharing the name fell apart when the band refused to pay White, instead saying that it’ll help with her career and reimburse her up to $10,000 for legal fees.
And how do you think that went? Anita said at the time that Lady A didn’t enter into those discussions in good faith and used their negotiations with her, which included a Zoom meeting, to make themselves look virtuous. The fact that they still have this up on their Instagram page is hilarious and almost as embarrassing as the fact that the band and all three members have the comments turned off or limited on all of their Instagram pages.
That “more to come” turned out to be slapping Anita with a lawsuit when she refused to give them her name for free.
Band members Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood sued in July 2020 seeking a court order confirming their right to continue using the name. They argued that they used Lady A interchangeably with Lady Antebellum since 2006 and that White never registered her stage name as a trademark.
Shortly after the suit was filed, Anita spoke to Vulture and said that Lady A was being Lady A-holes when they announced their suit and tried to make her out to be “the angry Black woman“ (her words) who greedily “demanded a $10 million payment” (their words). So she countersued. People adds:
A rep for White tells PEOPLE, “Anita White aka Lady A is an amazing individual and artist. It has been an honor for Cooley to represent Anita pro bono. Cooley appreciates how important it is for women and people of color to tell their own stories. This is Anita’s story to tell.”
Pro bono!?! And they’re happy with the settlement? I heard that. #GETMONEYBITCH!
Pics: Laura Farr/Media Punch/INSTARimages.com, Instagram