Rihanna drops legal case against her father
Rihanna has dropped a legal case against her father, weeks before they were due to meet in court.
The pop star had accused her father, Ronald Fenty, of misusing her name to benefit his own entertainment company, and sued him in 2019 for false advertising and invasion of privacy.
She also said he had tried to book her on an overseas tour without permission.
The case was due to come to trial on 22 September, but Rihanna filed to dismiss the case on Tuesday.
No reason was given, but US media reports suggest that she reached an out-of-court settlement with her father and his business partner.
Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, filed her legal case two years ago, saying: “Although Mr Fenty is Rihanna’s father, he does not have, and never has had, authority to act on Rihanna’s behalf.”
She alleged that in 2017, her father and another man, Moses Perkins, created a company called Fenty Entertainment, which repeatedly claimed it was affiliated with Rihanna.
In court documents, her lawyers said: “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 authorised to act on Rihanna’s behalf.”
They claimed that Fenty Entertainment tried to book a 15-date tour of Latin America worth $15m (£11m), as well as shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, without Rihanna’s knowledge.
Furthermore, they alleged that Ronald Fenty was trying to profit from the “Fenty” trademark, which Rihanna has used for several business ventures including her multi-million dollar cosmetics line, Fenty Beauty.
Her father had previously tried to file his own trademark for the name Fenty, as part of a plan to open a chain of boutique hotels, she claimed. The US Patent and Trademark Office denied the request.
Asking for an injunction against her father and his business partner, Rihanna said his business activities violated advertising, competition and privacy laws and risked “serious irreparable injury” to the Fenty brand if not stopped.
The singer, who is the world’s richest musician, has long had a strained relationship with her father, who has struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction in the past.
Neither party was immediately available to comment on the termination of the legal case.