They thought they could just change their name, and all would be well. They dodged a bullet, right? Nope. Lady Antebellum, sorry, “Lady A,” announced the change, which coincided with every brand name rushing to do what they could to avoid being torched by the lefty mob in the wake of the George Floyd riots. Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s Rice is doing it. Even fruit snacks—fruit snacks—are playing woke games. But Lady A had an issue, they were ripped for changing their name because it happened to be the same name of a black blues singer who’s been around for more than two decades. Never bend a knee to the mob. That should be the lesson and yet “Lady A,” the white version, has become the villains of their own story here. Yes, they did reach out to the original Lady A, who goes by the name Anita White, but then decided to—get this—file a lawsuit against her (via NYT):
When the country trio Lady Antebellum announced last month that it would change its Civil War-referencing band name to Lady A out of respect for Black people, the group credited the widespread protests against police brutality for revealing “blind spots we didn’t even know existed.”
Barely a day later, another blind spot made itself known: Anita White, a blues singer and Black woman, had been using the stage name Lady A for over 20 years. “This is my life,” she said.
In the weeks that followed, an apparent détente between the two parties, initially celebrated on social media by both sides, faltered when representatives for White “demanded a $10 million payment,” the band said in a statement … Now, the platinum-selling Nashville group has filed a lawsuit that seeks no monetary damages, but asks the court to affirm “a trademark we have held for many years.”
The trio, whose suit says it began using the nickname Lady A not long after it formed in 2006, said that it was not aiming to have White change her moniker, but seeking to protect itself from further litigation. The group first applied to register “Lady A” for use in music, videos, live performances and merchandise in 2010, the suit says, adding “no oppositions were filed by any person or entity, including White.
[…]
White did not immediately respond to a request for comment. She previously told Billboard that she and the band were “making progress,” even sharing a photo of a video chat she had with the country musicians including the caption, “The hurt is turning into hope. More to come.” But the next day, she told Newsday that she did not trust the group. “Their camp is trying to erase me,” she said.
Yeah, it’s not about the lack of damages filed in the suit. It’s a bad, bad look for the white version of Lady A. I mean, really, guys. You’d think this would go over well, suing the woman who has performed under the name for years. It’s a train wreck. It also plays right into what’s happening with Black Lives Matter activism right now. Black protesters are noticing that BLM is sort of being taken over by white liberals, which is the seat of irony. It’s to the point where black leaders have to shut down demonstrations because they’re both being led by white progressives and sending mixed messages. Now, in music, the country version of Lady A is trying to co-opt Ms. White’s performance name. Yeah, for the ‘woke’ mob, they might be coming after Lady A after all, and this time it’ll be more than just a tongue lashing over a name change.
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