Rihanna’s Legal Battle with Father Reveals He Tried to Launch His Own Reality Show to Become Famous

Rihanna’s father says he never illegally profited off his daughter and says he used the name “Fenty” before her, saying he planned to launch his own reality show about himself in hopes of becoming famous.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Ronald Fenty is once again asking the court to dismiss his daughter’s lawsuit against him. Rihanna sued her father accusing him of trying to profit off her name without permission. One of her issues was Ronald trying to trademark “Fenty” and use it with businesses. She felt people would be confused into thinking it was her project.

In newly filed court docs, Ronald says he was the one to use “Fenty” first NOT Rihanna. He claims that he launched Fenty Entertainment (which RiRi has problems with) to develop a reality show and to promote Ronald Fenty’s “career, business activities, personal branding, and name recognition in the entertainment industry and as a celebrity.”

He says he has used Fenty Entertainment since 21015 for the purpose of a reality show and real estate development projects. He says Rihanna doesn’t own any trademarks for “Fenty” solely. Ronald points out her Fenty beauty line didn’t hit the market until a year after he used it. Ronald claims nobody is confused by him using the name “Fenty” and wants out of the case ASAP.

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Earlier this year, Rihanna sued her father Ronald Fenty and his company Fenty Entertainment accusing him of exploiting her name without permission.

She claimed that her dad and another man named Moses Perkins created an entertainment company and have been soliciting business acting as agents of the singer. The star says she has nothing to do with Fenty Entertainment, and that “Although Mr. Fenty is Rihanna’s father, he does not have, and never has had, authority to act on Rihanna’s behalf.”

The singer claimed some of the erroneous bookings by her father includes a $15 million tour in Latin America and two concerts at Staples Center in Los Angeles and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for $400,000. In both cases, she claimed to have nothing to do with the bookings. She also says Ronald claimed he ran the business offers by Rihanna’s actual label, Roc Nation, but the singer argued nobody from Roc Nation was ever made aware of anything Ronald was doing.

In 2018, Ronald even tried to trademark the phrase “Fenty” for a line of boutique hotels, but it was shot down by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Rihanna claimed to have sent many cease and desist letters to her father and his business partner, but they did not stop. She said she was forced to file the lawsuit and demanded an injunction against her father, as well as unspecified damages. Ronald went to court shortly after asking for Rihanna’s suit to be dismissed. He argued Rihanna has suffered no damages because of him and says if she did, it was caused by third parties.

The singer has discussed her rocky relationship with her father in the past, claiming she witnessed Ronald abusing her mom when she was a child. She told Oprah that she once witnessed her mother suffer a broken nose at the hands of her father.