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Summer Walker is one of the biggest musical stars of the 2020s, but her paychecks have been looking a lot smaller than they should, at least according to a late August lawsuit accusing record label and management company Love Renaissance Records (aka LVRN) of fraud.
Walker accuses LVRN of “breach[ing] its fiduciary duties of good faith and fair dealing so severely as to cause a breach of the agreement by defendant.” The lawsuit essentially accuses LVRN of skimming from Walker’s business revenue while simultaneously overcharging those accounts. The lawsuit also alleges that LVRN profited from Walker's music and likeness via Amazon and YouTube without paying the singer from those income streams.
That’s on top of the skimpy advances, royalty rates, and inflexible terms of Walker’s contract. While Walker is seeking damages for these offenses, the primary goal of the lawsuit is for the court to dissolve Walker’s record deal with LVRN, and by extension, Interscope.
The details of that lawsuit were published this week in the wake of a $50 million Interscope/UMG lawsuit against Walker after the singer said she planned to exit her recording contract (Interscope and LVRN entered a joint venture agreement). Speaking to Rolling Stone, Walker’s lawyers indicated she plans to countersue her parent label.
Interscope and UMG sued Walker in Los Angeles County Superior Court last week saying that if Walker exited her recording contract early, the label would be entitled to damages of $50 million or more. Walker’s lawyer Keith Moten told Rolling Stone in part, “Summer remains open to a constructive resolution. She hopes that the matter can be resolved in a manner that respects the interests of all involved, and avoids unnecessary or prolonged litigation.”
