It would seem the band then known as Lady Antebellum had good intentions a month ago, when they announced they would be changing their name to Lady A. The shift was to rid their moniker of the word “antebellum,” which has ties to a period of history defined by slavery. However, it turned out a Black blues singer, Anita White, was already using the name, so she wasn’t pleased with the country group’s new identity.
After that controversy, the two parties had a discussion, and the band said they were “moving forward with positive solutions and common ground,” adding, “The hurt is turning into hope.” Now, though, it looks like that hope has turned into something else: The band is suing the singer over the name.
The suit was filed on July 8 in a Nashville court, and the band is asking for the right to the trademark of the name. The lawsuit says that the singer can keep using the name, but the band wants the trademark after the singer demanded the band give her $10 million.
The suit says the band previously registered “Lady A” as a trademark in 2010, and received no opposition at that time. The group says in a statement:
“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. […] We are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended. We can do so much more together than in this dispute.”
In an interview after the name-change announce, the singer said, “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.”