On the heels of their official name change from Lady Antebellum to Lady A, the trio is being taken to task — and possibly facing a lawsuit — from another entertainer who goes by the name Lady A. Seattle-based blues singer Anita White, who is African-American, is professionally known as Lady A and has released several albums over the last couple decades.
On Friday, she took the group to task on social media writing, “How can you say Black Lives Matter and put your knee on the neck of another Black artist? I'm not mad . . . I am however not giving up my name, my brand I worked hard for. #GodWillFightMyBattle #TheRealLadyA #LadyABluesSoulFunkGospelArtist #TheTruthIsLoud”
White told Rolling Stone, “This is my life. Lady A is my brand, I’ve used it for over 20 years, and I’m proud of what I’ve done. This is too much right now. They’re using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time. If it mattered, it would have mattered to them before. It shouldn’t have taken George Floyd to die for them to realize that their name had a slave reference to it. It’s an opportunity for them to pretend they’re not racist or pretend this means something to them. If it did, they would’ve done some research. And I’m not happy about that. You found me on Spotify easily — why couldn’t they?”
White also said that she holds a business trademark for Lady A LLC and is planning to speak with an attorney soon to discuss her options.
The group Lady A announced their official name change on Thursday (June 11th) stating in part, “We are regretful and embarrassed to say that we did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word referring to the period of history before The Civil War, which includes slavery . . .”
So far, Lady A, formerly Lady Antebellum, have yet to comment.