Ariana Grande sued clothing chain Forever 21 last month for $ 10 million, claiming the company infringed its copyright and trademarks after not approving deal. But now the company has informed the singer Problem that the lawsuit has been paused because it has just filed for bankruptcy.
Forever 21 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 29, and Grande will have to wait for the company to be restructured and for some decisions to be made in their bankruptcy case.
Instead of paying Ariana Grande, Forever 21 used a lookalike model & in an advertising campaign, per $ 10 million lawsuit. https://t.co/QPuNdJF8Nw pic.twitter.com/5DDBhtjlsl cialis19459005]
– The Fashion Law (@TheFashionLaw) 7 September 2019
In her request, Grande claimed that Forever tried 21 to sign her for an endorsement deal in 2018, but after a few weeks of negotiations they could not reach an agreement. The Thank You, Next singer lawyers explained that the company was not willing to “pay the fair market value for a celebrity of Mrs. Grande s stature.”
“Fear of a rapidly evolving market with increasing competition from other fast fashion brands, instead of paying Mrs. Grande, Forever 21 and Riley Rose, the beauty company founded by the daughters of the founders of Forever 21 ( collectively Suspects ), instead stole her name, likeness, and other intellectual property to promote their brands for free, “said the suit.
According to The Blast because they couldn’t make a deal with Grande, Forever 21 finally published 30 unauthorized photos & videos that her name and similarity abused and the singer immediately noticed that the images in her new advertising campaign from Forever 21 resembled her. Grande believes this was an attempt by the company to show that she endorsed the brand.
Grande’s lawyers called it a misleading campaign who tried to take advantage of the success of the latest Grande album because Forever 21 copied part of her looks from her 7-video clip and she also said they hired a model for their campaign that looks like her.
At the end of September, Grande paused the lawsuit against the retail giant so that they could have some time to come up with a settlement offer. They agreed to court date of November 8, and in the meantime, they also agreed to confidential mediation.
Now that the retailer no longer has any cash, Ariana Grande needs even longer to wait. She sues Forever 21 for $ 10.6 million, representing $ 10 million in damages and $ 600K for using her number without permission.
