Luke Combs is a class act!
The country musician has just learned that one of his fans is in deep financial trouble because of his own team, and he’s doing something about it!
Florida resident Nicole Harness was selling $20 tumblers on Amazon that were covered in stickers of the musician (see above). She saw him in concert over the summer and was inspired to make something in his honor — and she didn’t think there was anything wrong with selling tumblers and t-shirts bearing the likeness of her favorite celebs.
But everything changed recently when she checked out of the hospital (after a stay for heart failure) and learned her online handmade gift shop had been SUED! What terrible news after getting out of the hospital! And it gets WAY worse!
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In an interview with WFLA News Channel 8 on Tuesday, the fan teared up while explaining that she’d been sued in Federal Court and the judge had already ruled against her — before she was even aware of the legal trouble!
This is where it gets super shady! In Tampa, where she lives, lawsuits must be served in person, but this copyright infringement case was filed in Illinois back in October (against Harness and other vendors who were selling “unauthorized merchandise”). There, a defendant can be served via email — and yeah, you probably see the *very* obvious problem there! This very important email went into her spam so she never saw it!! Jeez!
As for the judgment, she was ordered to pay $250,000, and anything she makes from her storefront must go to Luke until the debt is paid off. This is obviously a huge amount of money no matter what, but she’d only made $380 off 18 Luke-inspired tumblers, so this is a steep consequence! Explaining that she doesn’t have another job, she told the outlet:
“It’s very stressful. I don’t have money to pay my bills. I just want this resolved. I didn’t mean any harm to Luke Combs. I quit selling the tumbler. I pulled it down. I just don’t understand.”
Thankfully, there’s some good news! The Fast Car singer woke up on Wednesday to learn about this lawsuit for the first time, and he’s swiftly taken action to make things right. In a new video posted to socials, he explained:
“It’s 7:27 a.m. here in Tennessee. I woke up to use the restroom and the first thing I saw was this. I’ve spent the last two hours trying to make this right… because I was completely and utterly unaware of this.”
The Hurricane star explained he employs a company that “goes after folks — only, supposedly, large corporations operating internationally that make millions and millions of dollars … running illegal businesses. And apparently this woman, Nicole, has somehow gotten wrapped into that and that makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.” He was already able to get in touch with the fan, adding:
“She told me that she was absolutely shocked by this. I’m so apologetic …. it makes me sick, honestly, that this would happen, especially at the holidays. I can’t imagine being in her shoes.”
Nicole also told the artist that there was $5,500 that had been frozen in her Amazon account because of this ordeal and he said he’d be sending her $11,000 today to make up for the mess, noting:
“She was never supposed to be involved in anything like this. No fan should ever have to be involved in anything like this.”
He also pledged to sell his own tumbler on his official site and give all the proceeds to her to help with medical bills, stressing:
“Again … I was completely shocked when I saw this this morning. This is not something that I would ever do. This is not the kind of person I am. Money is the last thing on my mind, I promise you guys that.”
Going further to make things right, he “invited Nicole and her family out to a show this year so I can give her a hug and say sorry in person,” sharing:
“It makes me sick for anybody to be thinking that I’m this kind of person, because I’m the farthest thing from it. Love you guys and I’ll keep you posted.”
Aw! You can tell how upset this has made him, and we’re sure his support is such a relief to the fan! Take a look at his response (below):
You can see more of Nicole’s story here:
While the lawsuit has been closed since November 15, it would appear Luke’s going to do everything he can to make sure things get sorted out and that the fan doesn’t have to hand over all that cash, but nothing has been formally finalized on that front yet.
Just goes to show you have to be extra cautious when making any fan-related merch these days!! Not everyone will be as nice as Luke! Reactions? Sound OFF (below)!
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