Rihanna has dropped her legal case against her father, weeks before they are due to meet in court.The pop star had accused her father, Ronald Fenty, of misusing her name to benefit his own entertainment company, and sued him in 2019 for false advertising and invasion of privacy.
Rihanna also said he had tried to book her on an overseas tour without permission. The case was due to come to trial on 22nd September, but Rihanna filed to dismiss the case.
No reason was given, but local media reports suggest that she reached an out-of-court settlement with her father and his business partner.
It can be recalled that Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, filed a legal case in 2019, saying: “Although Mr. Fenty is Rihanna’s father, he does not have, and never has had, authority to act on Rihanna’s behalf.”
She alleged that in 2017, her father and another man, Moses Perkins, created a company called Fenty Entertainment, which repeatedly claimed it was affiliated with Rihanna.
In court documents, her lawyers said: “Mr. Fenty and Mr. Perkins have used these lies in a fraudulent effort to solicit millions of dollars from unsuspecting third parties in exchange for the false promise that they were authorized to act on Rihanna’s behalf.”
Rihanna’s lawyers claimed that Fenty Entertainment tried to book a 15-date tour of Latin America worth 15million dollars, as well as shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, without Rihanna’s knowledge.
According to the lawsuit, “Although Mr. Fenty is Rihanna’s father, he does not presently, nor has he ever, had the authority to act on Rihanna’s behalf or had the right to use her Fenty mark, to exploit the goodwill of her Fenty brands or to solicit business on her behalf”.
Furthermore, they alleged that Ronald Fenty was trying to profit from the “Fenty” trademark, which Rihanna has used for several business ventures including her multi-million-dollar cosmetics line, Fenty Beauty.
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Rihanna asked the court to sojourn the firm from using the Fenty name for business.
The lawsuit said that Rihanna owns trademarks in the US for the Fenty name and has sent formal “cease and desist” requests.
“Defendants continue to this date to use their misrepresentations for their commercial advantage and to mislead the public. This fraudulent conduct harms not only plaintiffs but the public at large and requires judicial intervention.”
lawsuit
Her father had previously tried to file his own trademark for the name Fenty, as part of a plan to open a chain of boutique hotels, she claimed. The US Patent and Trademark Office denied the request.
Asking for an injunction against her father and his business partner, Rihanna said his business activities violated advertising, competition, and privacy laws and risked “serious irreparable injury” to the Fenty brand if not stopped.
The singer, who is the world’s richest musician, has long had a strained relationship with her father, who has struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction in the past.
Neither party was immediately available to comment on the termination of the legal case.
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