The former Lady Antebellum, left (photo by Keith HInkle), soul singer Lady, right (photo via Lady A’s Instagram).
Follow along here, as there are multiple layers of irony at play; On July 8th, country band Lady Antebellum changed there name to simply Lady A to capitulate to the rioting BLM woke cancel culture mob. Turns out a Seattle based blues and soul singer has been going by the name Lady A for 20 years. So now the country Lady A is suing the soul Lady A over the name. The original Lady A, whose real name is Anita White, is black.
That’s right, the white band who placated to the mob in the name of racial justice is now suing a black woman over the stage name the black woman had first.
You can’t make this stuff up!
The Hollywood Reporter reports:
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Country group Lady A, which dropped the word “Antebellum” from its name because of the word’s ties to slavery, has filed a lawsuit against a Black singer who has performed as Lady A for years.
The Grammy-winning vocal group filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court after negotiations with Anita White broke down in recent weeks. According to the lawsuit, the band is seeking a ruling that their use of the trademark “Lady A” does not infringe on White’s alleged trademark rights of the same name. The band is not seeking monetary damages.
The group, made up Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, announced the name change last month, saying they regretted not taking into consideration the word antebellum’s associations with slavery.
But White, who has been releasing blues and soul music for years as Lady A, complained publicly that the band never reached out to her before changing their name. Negotiations over the name failed to reach an agreement.
Pitchfork adds:
Last month, the band Lady Antebellum announced they would be changing their name to Lady A, apologizing for using a name associated with slavery in America. The following day (June 12), the Seattle-based Black blues singer Anita White, who has gone by the name Lady A for more than two decades, spoke out about the country band’s decision.
Today (July 8) the band Lady A have filed a lawsuit against the singer Lady A. They are asking a Nashville court to grant its right to the trademark of the name, documents viewed by Pitchfork confirm. The lawsuit notes that the band isn’t asking for monetary damages or attempting to prohibit White from performing under the name Lady A.
Last month, Lady A claimed they and White had come to an agreement. “They have agreed that both should continue to move forward as Lady A,” a publicist for the band said in a statement on June 16. On the same day, White told Newsday that the claim from the band was premature. “I’m not happy about [it] yet again after talking in good faith. … Their camp is trying to erase me and I’ll have more to say tomorrow. Trust is important and I no longer trust them.”
Evidently the country band released a full statement, as the Pitchfork article published:
Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended. She and her team have demanded a $10 million payment, so reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that we need to ask a court to affirm our right to continue to use the name Lady A, a trademark we have held for many years. It was a stirring in our hearts and reflection on our own blindspots that led us to announce a few weeks ago that we were dropping the word “Antebellum” from our name and moving forward using only the name so many of our fans already knew us by.
When we learned that Ms. White had also been performing under the name Lady A, we had heartfelt discussions with her about how we can all come together and make something special and beautiful out of this moment. We never even entertained the idea that she shouldn’t also be able to use the name Lady A, and never will—today’s action doesn’t change that. Instead, we shared our stories, listened to each other, prayed and spent hours on the phone and text writing a song about this experience together. We felt we had been brought together for a reason and saw this as living out the calling that brought us to make this change in the first place.
We’re disappointed that we won’t be able to work together with Anita for that greater purpose. We’re still committed to educating ourselves, our children and doing our part to fight for the racial justice so desperately needed in our country and around the world. We’ve only taken the first small steps and will prioritize racial equality as a key pillar of the work of LadyAID, specifically leaning into supporting and empowering our youth. We hope Anita and the advisers she is now listening to will change their minds about their approach. We can do so much more together than in this dispute.
Will they try to virtue signal their way out of this one?
