Anita “Lady A” White Speaks Out Amid Lawsuit With Lady Antebellum: “I Am Not Going to Be Erased”
The band formerly known as Lady Antebellum is suing Black blues singer Anita “Lady A” White, and the hypocrisy is next-level.
Anita says she is “not going to be erased.”
In case you missed it, the band formerly known as (FKA) Lady Antebellum—who changed their name to Lady A in a show of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement—is suing Black blues singer Anita White, who’s performed as Lady A since 1987. Which…wow, disappointing doesn’t even begin to cover it.
You can read FKA Lady Antebellum’s statement over here, but basically, they’re asking the Nashville court system to give them rights to trademark “Lady A.” They also claim that they tried to reach an agreement with White but took action after she requested a $10 million payment. I mean, fair enough considering they legit tried to take her musical identity without offering compensation.
“I think they always knew what they were gonna do,” White told Vulture (via Entertainment Tonight). “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 is nothing, and I’m actually worth more than that, regardless of what they think,” she continued. “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.”
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White also explained that FKA Lady Antebellum sent her a contract on June 30 that suggested they coexist and said they’d “use their best efforts” to promote her music on their various platforms. “But what does that mean?” she asked. “I had suggested on the Zoom call that they go by ‘the Band Lady A’ or ‘Lady A the Band’ and I could be ‘Lady A the Artist,’ but they didn’t want to do that.”
White confirmed she asked for $10 million and plans to use $5 million to rebrand and the other $5 million to donate toward organizations that support Black artists. “You don’t get to just come and take because you have that privilege,” White said. “We don’t have that luxury or that privilege, so we need somebody to help us and lift us up.”
In case FKA Lady Antebellum is interested, Merriam-Webster defines “hypocrisy” as “feigning to be what one is not.”
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