Say what? This is NOT a good look for the artists formerly known as Lady Antebellum.
Country group Lady A, which dropped the word โAntebellum,โ from their name because of the wordโs ties to slavery, has filed a lawsuit against a Black singer Anita White who has performed as Lady A for years.
The Grammy-winning vocal group filed the lawsuit on 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 โLady Aโ does not infringe on Whiteโs alleged trademark rights of the same name. The band is not seeking monetary damages.
The group made up of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood announced the name change last month, saying they were regretful for not taking into consideration the word antebellumโs 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.
According to the lawsuit, the band applied for trademarks for the name โLady Aโ for entertainment services and for use on clothing back in 2010 and no oppositions were filed by any person or entity.

โWhen 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,โ said the group in a statement.
โWe never even entertained the idea that she shouldnโt also be able to use the name Lady A, and never will โ todayโs action doesnโt change that.โ
According to the suit, the bandโs counsel had prepared a draft agreement including such points as continuing to share the name and supporting Whiteโs musical career.

However, on June 16, 2020 White told Newsday that she was not happy with the agreement and โtheir camp is trying to erase meโฆ. Trust is important and I no longer trust them.โ
White has not responded as of yet to the lawsuit, but she did tweet this yesterday:
Read Lady Aโs full statement below:
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 โAntebellumโ 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 shouldnโt also be able to use the name Lady A, and never will โ todayโs action doesnโt 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. Weโre disappointed that we wonโt be able to work together with Anita for that greater purpose. Weโre 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. Weโve 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.โ
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