Lady A Files Lawsuit vs Blues Singer Anita ‘Lady A’ White

There is a lot to unpack here. And the circumstances are not what they appear when you read that headline.

Formerly known as Lady Antebellum, Lady A’s attorneys have filed a suit against blues singer Anita White who goes by the name Lady A on Wednesday, July 8th. On June 11, the band announced via Instagram that it was dropping the name Antebellum from its name after reflecting on the Black Lives Matter movement and in an effort to be more inclusive.

Despite having zoom meetings regarding sharing the name a few weeks ago, Anita White’s team has retracted the opportunity to share the name, and has demanded a $10 Million settlement against the country trio.

On June 15, nearly three weeks ago, the group posted a smiling screen shot on its Instagram of a Zoom meeting with White and two of her colleagues, writing “Today, we connected privately with the artist Lady A. 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.”

“Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended,” the group 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 band is not attempting to stop White from using the name, instead suggesting they share it.

Read Lady A’s full statement below:

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.”

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