Anita White, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood.Photo: John Shearer/Getty Images. Inset:Midwest Records
The country group formerly known asLady Antebellumand Anita White, the musician who for years has performed under the group’s new moniker Lady A, have squashed their legal beef.
Attorneys for both Lady A (comprised of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood) and White did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. A rep for White tells PEOPLE, “Anita White aka Lady A is an amazing individual and artist. It has been an honor for Cooley to represent Anita pro bono. Cooley appreciates how important it is for women and people of color to tell their own stories. This is Anita’s story to tell.”
Issues between the two first arose in June 2020, when the country group known as Lady Antebellumshortened its name to Lady Awith the goal of making it more “inclusive,” as the word had associations “referring to the period of history before the Civil War, which includes slavery.”
Days later, they shared on Instagram that they’d"connected privately"with White, a Seattle-based blues artist, after learning that she’d been using the name Lady A for decades.
That July, however,the band filed suit against White, saying in the filing that they’d been using Lady A interchangeably with their own name as early as 2006, and applied to register the Lady A name for entertainment purposes at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2010.
In a statement made at the time, Scott, Kelley and Haywood said they’d had “heartfelt discussions” with White “about how we can all come together and make something special and beautiful out of this moment,” but took things to court after White and her legal team requested $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,” the statement read.
At the time, White toldRolling Stonethat she began losing visibility after the band’s name change.
White also toldRolling Stonethat she believed the group’s conversations with her were one-sided and that she “didn’t think coexistence would work.”
In September 2020,White countersued the band, filing a trademark infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle, arguing that she has common law rights to the moniker since she’s been using it for years.
source: people.com
