It’s not the outcome they wanted, but Lady A has been forced to pursue legal action against singer Anita White, over the use of their name. The trio, made up of Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood, announced last month that they were officially changing their name from Lady Antebellum to Lady A, in an effort to be more inclusive, acknowledging that the word “antebellum” referenced a part of history that included slavery.
Blues singer Anita White also goes by the name Lady A, and immediately protested their name change, telling Rolling Stone, “This is my life. Lady A is my brand, I’ve used it for over 20 years, and I’m proud of what I’ve done. This is too much right now. 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.”
Lady A initially had what they called a “transparent, honest, and authentic conversation,” sharing on social media that they were “excited to share we are moving forward with positive solutions and common ground.”
Unfortunately, those conversations seemed to have stalled, with Lady A announcing in a statement, via Billboard, that they were forced to pursue legal action to continue using the name Lady A, which they have had the legal right to use since 2011, after initially filing the request with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in May of 2010.
“Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended,” Lady A said in a lengthy 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. It was a stirring in our hearts and reflection on our own blind spots 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,” the statement continued. “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,” Lady A concluded their statement. “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.”
According to the lawsuit, “Prior to 2020, White did not challenge, in any way, Plaintiffs’ open, obvious, and widespread nationwide and international use of the LADY A mark as a source indicator for Plaintiffs’ recorded, downloadable, and streaming music and videos, Plaintiffs’ live musical performances, or Plaintiffs’ sale of souvenir merchandise.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of The GreenRoom PR / Dove Shore