Ariana Grande Suffers Setback in $10 Million Court Battle With Forever 21
By Ryan Naumann on October 18, 2019 at 6:41 AM EDT
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Ariana Grande’s massive lawsuit against Forever 21 is being put on pause after the retail giant filed for bankruptcy.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Forever 21 notified the singer that her lawsuit against them has to be put on pause. They point to their recent bankruptcy filing.
On September 3, Grande filed a $10 million-dollar lawsuit against Forever 21. She accuses them of ripping her off after a potential endorsement deal fell apart.
Forever 21 ended up filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 29. A bankruptcy causes any pending lawsuits to be stayed. The cases do not move forward until decisions are made in the Chapter 11 case.
In the newly filed documents, Forever 21 explains Grande will have to wait until their bankruptcy is resolved.
The Blast
In her lawsuit, Grande claims Forever 21 approached her to endorse their brand last year. She says the company reached out after the release of her single “Thank U, Next”.
The parties tried to work out a deal in December 2018 until January 2019 but were unable to agree on terms.
She turned down the offers because they refused to pay the “fair market value for a celebrity of Ms. Grande’s stature.”
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The suit states, “Fearing irrelevance in a rapidly evolving market with increasing competition from other fast fashion brands, rather than pay Ms. Grande, Forever 21 and Riley Rose, the beauty company started by the daughters of Forever 21’s founders (collectively, “Defendants”), instead stole her name, likeness, and other intellectual property to promote their brands for free.”
Grande says Forever 21 launched a “misleading campaign” that “capitalized on the concurrent success” of her album by publishing 30 unauthorized images and videos “misappropriating” her name and likeness. The singer believes this happened to make it look like she endorsed the brand.
She says Forever 21 even hired a model who looks strikingly similar to her. Grande says they even copied looks she had in her 7 Rings music video.
The Blast
Grande saw the campaign and immediately contacted her attorneys. She claims Forever 21 did not remove the images immediately and she wants to be paid. She is suing seeking $10.6 million in damages.
The singer recently had a separate lawsuit dropped, over her "God is a Woman" music video. Grande also settled a $50,000 legal battle with a photographer named Robert Barbera.
