Salt-N-Pepa Sued by Former Bandmate DJ Spinderella Over Alleged Unpaid Royalties
By Ryan Naumann on July 11, 2019 at 4:55 AM EDT
DJ Spinderella has slapped her former Salt-N-Pepa band mates Salt and Pepa with a federal lawsuit, accusing them of screwing her over for years and then abruptly firing her.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, DJ Spinderella (real name Deidra Roper) is suing Pepa (real name Sandra Denton) and Salt (Cheryl James).
The suit explains the trio started recording and performing as SNP back in the mid-1980s. Spinderella says she helped launch the group to be the success they are today.
The band went into hiatus in the late 1990s but she continued promoting the band. She claims things got weird in the early 2000s when she learned of a compilation album being released. She says Pepa told her they would pay her $125,000 but that never came.
She continues, “By the early 2000s, the Defendants discussed with Roper an SNP reunion which would have possibly involved, among other things, a television show based on the legendary female group’s rise to stardom.”
Spinderella claims they promised her a one-third cut of profits.
They signed onto a VH1 show, "known as 'The Salt N Pepa Show' was aired with numerous episodes featuring only Defendants James and Denton. Plaintiff Roper was invited to appear—only as a guest—on several episodes of the Salt N Pepa television show for minimal compensation."
She continued working with Salt and Pepa over the years for tours and other events. Spinderella says she always asked about the money but was always told she was being paid the full cut.
Spinderella says she even agreed to do a Las Vegas residency with the girls from the Fall of 2018 through the Spring of 2019. She was to be paid per show but claims the payments were not paid on time or regularly.
The DJ says she refused to accept low pay for her work and then in January, she got a written notice of termination from the band’s lawyers.
She says her former bandmates have recently started talking to Lifetime to do a miniseries on the band, without telling her a thing.
Spinderella claims their actions of interfering with her plans to do a Vegas residency. She also takes issues with allegedly not being paid all her royalties.
Spinderella is demanding unspecified damages, accounting for all their royalties and work and for an injunction prohibiting Salt and Pepa from using her name or likeness.
