Rihanna has filed a lawsuit against her father, Ronald Fenty, claiming that he is exploiting her name to make money. Her father has tried to create multiple businesses using the Fenty name in the last year, something the lawsuit states Rihanna owns the trademarks to in the US.
According to Rihanna’s lawsuit, Ronald Fenty created Fenty Entertainment last year and has falsely affiliated it with Rihanna herself. Claiming that this conduct has misled the public and hurt her Fenty brand, Rihanna has sent multiple cease and desist requests asking him to stop using the Fenty name to no avail. Now, the lawsuit seeks to stop her father from using her name, or anything confusingly similar, and sues for an unconfirmed amount of damages, stating that his conduct violates advertising, competition and privacy law, risking ‘serious irreparable injury’ to the Fenty brand.
‘Although Mr Fenty is Rihanna's father, he does not presently, nor has he ever, had the authority to act on Rihanna's behalf or had the right to use her Fenty mark, to exploit the goodwill of her Fenty brands or to solicit business on her behalf,’ the lawsuit reads.
The documents state that on the Fenty Entertainment website, a business he started with partner Moses Perkins in 2017, a press release announced the launch of the firm ‘with’ Rihanna, despite her not being involved. On one occasion, the company entered into negotiations on Rihanna’s behalf to perform 15 shows in Latin America, for $15.4m, without her authorisation, and falsely represented approval from her record label, Roc Nation- whom Rihanna claims he has had no contact with.
An another occasion in 2018, Ronald tried to trademark ‘Fenty’ for a chain of boutique hotels, despite having already received a cease and desist request months prior. ‘Mr. Fenty and Mr. Perkins have used these lies in a fraudulent effort to solicit millions of dollars from unsuspecting third parties in exchange for the false promise that they were authorized to act on Rihanna’s behalf, and/or that Rihanna would perform at various locations throughout the world,’ the lawsuit states.
Rihanna’s relationship with her father – who is a former drug addict - was already extremely strained, with Rihanna stating she grew up around domestic violence, and witnessed her dad hit her mother as a child. She has been open about their lack of contact, telling Vogue in 2011 that she has no interest in having a relationship with him, noting occasions where he sold stories to the media following her assault by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown.
‘My dad went to the press and just told them a bunch of lies. Because he hadn't talked to me after... that whole thing,’ she told US Vogue, ‘He never called to find out how I was doing, if I was alive, nothing. He just never called. He went straight to the press and got a cheque. And now he does it again.’
Fenty Entertainment has declined to speak about the lawsuit so far.