Wednesday the band formerly known as Lady Antebellum announced that they were suing an R&B singer named Anita White who has gone by Lady A since 1987 because she wouldn't stop using her name.
In an interview with Vulture, Anita says “I think they always knew what they were gonna do.”
She says "I'm just an independent artist so I don't know about trademarking the name. I just know what's right. I came up with the name when those 3 were still babies. Now they want to force me to stop using it? That's not right! You don’t get to just come and take it because you have that privilege!”
White says when negotiations started Lady A sent her a contract that “had no substance,” and suggested they just “coexist,” White offered that they go by Lady A the Band, and she go by Lady A the Artist, but they weren’t into that.
As for that $10 mil she asked for, she says the money was not only to help support herself, but also the black community. “I told them I wanted them to make a 5 million dollar donation to black charities. Then pay me 5 million to stop using my my name. I was quiet for two weeks because I was trying to believe that it was going to be okay and that they would realize that it would be easier to just change their name, or pay me for my name. Five million dollars to them is nothing, and I’m actually worth more than that, regardless of what they think.”
Finally she notes, “But here we go again with another white person trying to take something from a Black person, even though they say they’re trying to help. If you want to be an advocate or an ally, you help those who you’re oppressing. And that might require you to give up something because I am not going to be erased."