The country-pop group formerly known as “Lady Antebellum” has sued Seattle blues singer Lady A (real name Anita White) for 10 million dollars. The country-pop group changed their infamous name to “Lady A” in light of the death of George Floyd and the increasing awareness of harsh racism against black people in the United States, but this conflicts with the fact that Lady A has used her stage name for at least 20 years. The country-pop group demanded $10 million for the rights of the name, arguing that the name “Lady A” has been trademarked by the band since 2010.
In a previous statement to Rolling Stone, White claimed that she has performed under the name for over two decades.
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,” she said.
When it emerged that the band would be changing their name, White asserted that she wasn’t going to stop performing under the name.
“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 realise that their name had a slave reference to it,” she said.
“I don’t know if [the new Lady A] are going to give me a cease-and-desist. I don’t know how they’d react. But I’m not about to stop using my name.”
Even if the country-pop group could justify using the “Lady A” monicker, this ominous move makes the group look as if they are changing their band name in order to save face. Certainly, the optics are very shaky as a country-pop group, who changed their name to look good to the Black Lives Matter movement, is suing a black blues singer who has been using her stage name for at least two decades. And the name “Antebellum” certainly has strong negative connotations, especially to slavery. Why would a band do it just now?
The band did try to respond by practically saying they are extorted and that they have the right to the name. They attempted to collaborate with Lady A, and were dismayed that the singer demanded $10 million.
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.”