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The Lawsuit Monster
Lady Gaga is at the center of another lawsuit debating who is responsible for her fame and fortune. A singer-songwriter named Wendy Starland has filed a suit against Gaga’s former boyfriend/producer claiming she was the one that discovered the Grammy Award-winning singer.
Producer Rob Fusari – who has a producing credit on Lady Gaga’s 2008 debut, The Fame – filed his own lawsuit against Gaga in March, seeking $30.5 million. Fusari claimed that he met the singer back in 2006 when she was still Stefani Germanotta and that he had come up with her stage name and helped her snag a record contract. He said that according to their contract, he was owed a 20 percent share of her song royalties.
Gaga filed a countersuit against her former business associate and boyfriend, claiming Fusari was just an agent for her and had convinced her to sign an unfair agreement in 2006.
The two parties agreed to dismiss both lawsuits according to court papers filed earlier this month. Monetary details of the agreement were not disclosed.
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Starland’s lawsuit, which was filed in Newark Federal Court Sept. 24, claims that Fusari only met Lady Gaga because the producer asked Starland to find him the next big singer.
The suit accuses Fusari and his company of “breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and quantum meruit,” according to the Forbes blog Piercing The Veil.
“In 2005, at a face-to-face meeting in New Jersey, Fusari told Starland that he was searching for a unique female singer, under the age of 25, who could be the female equivalent of the lead singer of the band ‘The Strokes,’” the lawsuit claims, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“Fusari then promised Starland that, if she could find and introduce him to such a singer, they would work together to develop the singer and share equally in any revenues earned as a result.”
Eight months after the agreement was made, Starland tracked down the former Stefani Germanotta at The Cutting Room in New York City. After introducing her to Fusari, Starland claims she helped collaborate on songs, Lady Gaga’s musical style and artistic development, according to Forbes.
Starland claims Fusari never followed through on his end of the deal as she was cut of Gaga’s record contracts and never received any compensation for her great find.
Click here for the Forbes story.
Click here for the Entertainment Weekly story.