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Singer ‘Lady A’ Blasts Band ‘Lady A’ Amidst Lawsuit: ‘They Wanted Me To Make Them Look Good’

   DailyWire.com
SONGLAND -- "Lady Antebellum" Episode 201 -- Pictured: Lady Antebellum --
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Anita “Lady A” White has accused the country group Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, of trying to use her to make themselves look good, and then filing a lawsuit that made her look bad.

“When they talked about how talks broke down, they never talked outside of trying to get me to do what they wanted me to do, which is coexist, and that’s something I never wanted,” White, who says she’s used the name “Lady A” for decades, told Rolling Stone.

After Lady A the singer and Lady A the band discussed a potential documentary and song collaboration — ideas White strongly suggests weren’t hers, but that she did entertain — the blues singer said that the country band failed to address the fact that she didn’t want to share the name.

“They came back with their agreement, which didn’t address my concerns, and I knew what they wanted. They wanted a story that showed us getting along. They wanted me to make them look good in the eyes of the public,” said White.

The country group filed a lawsuit against the singer on Wednesday in order to secure the rights to share the name “Lady A,” which the band trademarked with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for entertainment purposes back in 2011. The group did not ask for money.

A copy of the lawsuit posted by Pitchfork also alleges that Lady Antebellum “started using ‘Lady A’ as a source indicator for their goods and services as early as 2006 and 2007, adopting as an official brand a name their fans began associating with the Musical Group as they rose to popularity.”

During the Rolling Stone interview, White responded to the band’s argument that they held a trademark on the name and that she had never contested it until this year: “How would I have thought to look at the trademark? Why would I have challenged them? They were going by Lady Antebellum before; they weren’t going by Lady A.”

“This is what kills me about white privilege,” said White. “Their advantages let them do whatever it is they want to do. They have people in their camp to go out and get these trademarks. I never had that. I managed myself, I booked myself, I put my brand name out there.”

In the lawsuit, Lady A also accused White of “demanding a $10 million payment” from them, which White told Rolling Stone was half for rebranding herself — because she doesn’t want to use the same name as them — and half for charity.

She later added: “So if you’re going to appropriate my name, I thought it was only fair I could rebrand myself with $5 million. I could help my community, I could help my church, I can help other artists. And that other $5 million was supposed to go to Black Lives Matter to help other artists with this very struggle.”

White believes that the “ideal situation” would involve the country group changing their name again: “If they are in fact allies, they have the resources, they have the money, they can change their name. It wouldn’t cost them a dime.”

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