Fans have shared their reactions to Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum) suing R&B artist Anita White who used the stage name “Lady A” for the last two decades.
The Name Change
Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and David Haywood made the official band name change on June 11. The trio explained that due to the Black Lives Matter movement, they realized that the term “antebellum” could be hurtful to people.
A day after the name change, White told Rolling Stone that she has used the stage name “Lady A” as a solo R&B artist for over two decades. She told the outlet that the band did not contact her at the time of the article’s publication.
The band met with White via Zoom on June 15 to negotiate terms to come to an agreement. “Today, we connected privately with the artist Lady A,” the band wrote in an Instagram post with a photo of the Zoom call. “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.”
Finally, the band released a statement that addressed the lawsuit that they filed on July 8 at Nashville’s U.S. District Court. “Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended,” Lady A the band said in a statement. “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 explained that they never expected her to stop using Lady A as a stage name. “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,” their statement added. “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.”
The Reactions
Almost all of the reactions were negative concerning the lawsuit. Fans wanted to know why they would sue someone who has been using the name for over two decades while they did not use that as their band name. Two fans pointed out that Lady A still stands for Antebellum and isn’t a major change.
However, some fans pointed out that ten million dollars was too much for a trademark that they already owned. Additionally, fans also pointed out that Lady A has been their band’s nickname since they became a band.
See all of the reactions, below.
