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Anita “Lady A” White released a lengthy statement to explain her side in the lawsuit the country band previously known as "Lady Antebellum" has filed against her in an attempt to make her drop the name she’s performed under since 1987.
White claims the band – composed of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood – tried to convince her to give up her stage name by using her “love of God” as well as “big money and privilege.”
“I first heard about Lady Antebellum’s planned name change after they went public on June 11, 2020, at which point I was shocked and taken aback. During initial calls with the members of the band — Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and Dave Haywood — I hoped that we could reach an agreement that left both sides whole. Lady Antebellum understood that their use of ‘Antebellum’ was offensive and that their adoption of Lady A harms me, as I have been using the name professionally for over 30 years,” she said in a statement to Variety.
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White continued: “Though they recognized their impact, Lady Antebellum has not been receptive to my proposals for correcting their infringement, unfortunately. It has already been demonstrated why co-existence will simply not work. My fans used to be able to listen to my music on streaming services; now they struggle to find me. Due to Lady Antebellum’s massive rebranding efforts, Lady Antebellum has erased me from every platform. Lady Antebellum has used their wealth and influence to intimidate and bully me into submission without offering any real recompense for appropriating my name.”
“It is now clear that their apologies, friendly texts, and playing on my love of God were just insincere gestures aimed at quieting me,” she claimed. “Well, I will not be quiet any longer.”
White called out the band for their “privilege” adding, “Hillary, Charles, and Dave are attempting to change the narrative by minimizing my voice and belittling my experience as an artist — as if having a lot of money gives them permission to tread on my rights. I have worked too long and too hard to just give my name away.”
In June, the popular country trio announced the decision to change their name to Lady A "after much personal reflection" and conversations with their "closest Black friends," because the word "antebellum" refers to a period of time "which includes slavery."
White, however, isn’t pleased with the attempt of the band to appear “woke.”
“The band’s decision to change their name to Lady A follows the trend of many other groups and organizations working to distance themselves from racism in the wake of the uprisings in this post-George Floyd world. Someone finally told them — or perhaps they knew all along and didn’t care until now — that their name reminds Black folks of just how much was taken from us in the past: our lives, freedom, languages, families, and, yes, our names,” she said.
White added: “It is absurd that Lady Antebellum has chosen to show its commitment to racial equality by taking the name of a Black woman, particularly in this time when we are reminded every day to ‘Say Her Name.’ It is one more demonstration of what continues to be taken away from us in the present.”
The singer slammed the band’s decision for waiting until now to change their name. “Given the way that Hillary, Charles, and Dave have treated me, I am not surprised that they used the name Lady Antebellum for so long or that their cure is to adopt a name that is only less overtly racist,” she said. “The A in their name stands for Antebellum and always will. If they are truly committed to racial equality, why do they want to maintain that association, especially when it means making a public, intentional stand to disregard me and my rights?”
“I want to be able to freely use my brand that I spent decades building. I do not want to part with it. It is particularly painful to me, as a Black woman, to lose my name in THIS time and place so Lady Antebellum can use it as shorthand to celebrate a time and place connected to and very heavily reliant upon slavery,” White added.
Dave Haywood, Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum strike a pose on the 2019 ACMs red carpet. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
The country trio filed a lawsuit last week in Nashville’s U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against White. The band alleges that White and her representation asked for “an exorbitant monetary demand” to the tune of $10 million for use of her moniker, which they already had a patent on.
In July 2011 they registered Lady A with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with no opposition.
“I asked for $5 million to compensate me for this loss, and to help me rebuild under a new name. I also asked that they donate $5 million to a charity so that we could work together to promote racial equality,” White said.
The singer assured her fans that she would “not back down” in their public battle.
The members of Lady Antebellum, from left, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott pose in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)
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“Black lives, names, experiences, work, art — they all matter. Fellow independent artists have reached out to me to share their stories of name feuds that they lost because they were on the opposite side of big money and privilege. Not only will I not be one of them, but I am hopeful that this fight for what is rightfully mine will help those damaged by this type of bullying and erasure in the past, and that it will prevent it from happening in the future,” White concluded her statement to Variety. “I will not allow Lady Antebellum to obliterate me and my career so they can look ‘woke’ to their fans.”
Fox News' Tyler McCarthy contributed to this report.
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