Lay Lady A
July 10, 2020

Lady A(ntebellum) suing singer Lady A over the name - "I am not going to be erased"

Lady A / Lady Antebellum

"You don’t get to just come and take because you have that privilege" - blues singer Lady A, real white Anita White, told Vulture about a lawsuit that the country band Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum) had brought up against her. The band claim that White's attorneys "delivered a draft settlement agreement that included an exorbitant monetary demand" of $10 million. The lawsuit they've now filed does not ask for monetary damages, but an official declaration that the band are lawfully using the Lady A trademark. White also told Vulture (via Exclaim) that while the band Lady A's presence grew in the public eye (and on search engines, Spotify and Apple Music), hers shrank. When she tried to upload her new independent single via independent distribution service DistroKid, she couldn't verify her name. She believes it's a thing of racism - "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”.