As Grammy-nominated R&B star Summer Walker fights to exit her recording contract with Interscope Records, she’s also pursuing fraud claims against Love Renaissance Records, the independent label and management company that signed her before entering a joint venture with Interscope. In a recently filed 10-page lawsuit first obtained by Rolling Stone, Walker accuses Love Renaissance of locking her into an onerous contract, misappropriating money from her budgets, and denying her access to revenue generated by Amazon and YouTube pages featuring her name and likeness. Walker’s lawyer, Keith Moten, said Tuesday that the singer, who signed with Love Renaissance when she was 19, no longer trusts the label to protect her interests.
She’s a mother now, and she doesn’t trust blindly anymore. She’s ready to fight for herself, her freedom and her peace.” Moten said Walker had trusted Love Renaissance to treat her fairly and act in her best interests as a young artist, but now believes the company betrayed that trust after she devoted some of her most productive years to the label. Walker alleges Love Renaissance sold merchandise bearing her name and likeness on Amazon and other retail websites without paying her a share of the proceeds.
She claims the company operated a YouTube page in her name without her knowledge, then deleted its historical data before transferring control to her, without paying her any revenue the page had generated. The lawsuit alleges breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and fraudulent concealment. Walker is asking the court to declare her Sept. 15, 2017, agreement with Love Renaissance “void and unenforceable.” She is also seeking compensatory and punitive damages in amounts to be determined by the court.
Lawyers for Love Renaissance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Rolling Stone on Tuesday. Last week, Interscope and its parent company UMG sued Walker in Los Angeles County Superior Court, saying her notice that she plans to exit her recording contract under California’s so-called “seven-year rule” would entitle UMG to recover damages upwards of $50 million. Walker has disputed the claims.
Walker signed with Love Renaissance on Sept. 15, 2017, and with Interscope on Nov. 1, 2017. She went on to become a huge star, with industry experts telling Rolling Stone her contract terms appeared “brutal” in retrospect. Related Content Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis Sentenced to 40 Years to Life for Murder of Tupac Shakur Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Corruption Scandal Was Too Sloppy for the Trump Administration ‘Republicans Are F--ked’: GOP Strategists Process Trump’s Impact Ahead of Midterms Selma Blair Arrested After 'Medical Emergency' Led to Physical Altercation on Flight In August, Walker informed Interscope that she would soon stop working under the agreement.
Walker will no longer render service under the agreement by reason of the fact that the agreement is no longer enforceable,” her letter to the label said, according to court filings. In its lawsuit filed Friday, Oct. 9, Interscope claimed Walker’s “failure to deliver” all the recordings required under her contract would leave her liable for damages. The music giant said her original 2017 agreement and subsequent amendments obligated her to deliver five studio albums, with her earlier projects, Last Day of Summer and CLEAR, classified as “pre-album projects” that did not count toward that album total.
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