Lady A (Formerly Lady Antebellum) Are Now SUING The Black Singer Who Was Already Using Their New Name

Okay, now things are getting REALLY messy.

As we previously reported, country band Lady Antebellum made a BIG change in support of the growing Black Lives Matter movement. Last month, they announced that in an effort to be “inclusive of all,” they would be changing their name to Lady A — removing the pre-Civil War romanticizing “antebellum.”

Except the band apparently didn’t do their due diligence coming up with the moniker, because they neglected to realize it was already in use. Seattle blues singer Anita White, aka THE ORIGINAL Lady A, was NOT happy about the oversight. She told Rolling Stone at the time:

“This is my life. Lady A is my brand, I’ve used it for over 20 years, and I’m proud of what I’ve done. This is too much right now. They’re using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time. If it mattered, it would have mattered to them before…. It shouldn’t have taken George Floyd to die for them to realize that their name had a slave reference to it. It’s an opportunity for them to pretend they’re not racist or pretend this means something to them. If it did, they would’ve done some research. And I’m not happy about that. You found me on Spotify easily — why couldn’t they?”

That seems like a pretty accurate assessment of the situation, if you ask us.

The group, made up of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, reached out to the singer after the fact, ostensibly to try to rectify the situation. They posted a screenshot of their Zoom meeting to Twitter with the message:

“Today, we connected privately with the artist Lady A. Transparent, honest, and authentic conversations were had. We are excited to share we are moving forward with positive solutions and common ground. The hurt is turning into hope. More to come. #LadyABluesSoulFunkGospelArtist”

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they came up with any “positive solutions” after all, because the band is now SUING Anita over the trademark for the name. The suit, filed on Wednesday, argues that their trademark of “Lady A” does not infringe on White’s trademark of the same name. Part of their argument states “the band applied for trademarks for the name ‘Lady A’ for entertainment services and for use on clothing back in 2010 and no oppositions were filed by any person or entity,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The group released a statement saying:

“Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended. She and her team have demanded a $10 million payment, so reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that we need to ask a court to affirm our right to continue to use the name Lady A, a trademark we have held for many years. It was a stirring in our hearts and reflection on our own blindspots that led us to announce a few weeks ago that we were dropping the word “Antebellum” from our name and moving forward using only the name so many of our fans already knew us by.

When we learned that Ms. White had also been performing under the name Lady A, we had heartfelt discussions with her about how we can all come together and make something special and beautiful out of this moment. We never even entertained the idea that she shouldn’t also be able to use the name Lady A, and never will—today’s action doesn’t change that. Instead, we shared our stories, listened to each other, prayed and spent hours on the phone and text writing a song about this experience together. We felt we had been brought together for a reason and saw this as living out the calling that brought us to make this change in the first place.

We’re disappointed that we won’t be able to work together with Anita for that greater purpose. We’re still committed to educating ourselves, our children and doing our part to fight for the racial justice so desperately needed in our country and around the world. We’ve only taken the first small steps and will prioritize racial equality as a key pillar of the work of LadyAID, specifically leaning into supporting and empowering our youth. We hope Anita and the advisers she is now listening to will change their minds about their approach. We can do so much more together than in this dispute.”

For her part, the 61-year-old artist reposted a fan on her Instagram story who wrote:

“You finally realize your name is racially problematic so you shorten it, but then sue the black woman that has been using that name for almost 2 decades…. That’s some white privilege”

So it’s pretty clear how she feels about the situation!

At the very least, the group is not seeking any monetary damages against White. But if they really want to divorce themselves from the racist associations of “Antebellum,” they could come up with an entirely new name and trust their fans to stand by them through the change. Instead, an action meant to honor the Black Lives Matter movement is now totally disrupting and disrespecting the career of a Black woman.

Not a good look, y’all.

[Image via Judy Eddy/WENN & Lady A/Instagram]