Rihanna Sues Bean Counters

The singer filed suit against new York-based Berdon LLP and two accountants, claiming the defendants “drained tens of millions of dollars from revenues” over a five-year-period during which she “launched four national and international tours,” according to Associated Press.

The lawsuit also blames the firm for an ongoing IRS audit.

Rihanna hired the accounting firm and its accountants in 2005 when she was a 16-year-old rising star from Barbados. She fired the firm in 2010.

The lawsuit cites Rihanna’s 2009 “Last Girl On Earth” tour as an example of accountants gone bad, alleging that the firm pocketed 22 percent of the tour’s total revenues even though the outing had resulted in “significant net losses.” The lawsuit claims the firm’s actions were not a standard practice within the accounting biz and were a clear conflict of interest.

Rihanna, the lawsuit claims, pocketed a mere 6 percent of total revenues.

Along with alleging less-than-standard practices, Rihanna is charging that the accounting firm failed to recommend that she trim expenses as a direct result of the 2009 tour.

As an example, the lawsuit mentions that when the singer purchased an expensive Los Angeles home in 2009, the firm failed to advise her not to do it, even though the tour was allegedly losing money. The suit contends that “competent” business managers would have told her to pass on the purchase.

To contrast accounting practices, the lawsuit notes that Rihanna’s money situation has done an about face and that her 2011 “Loud Tour” resulted in a net profit totaling more than 40 percent of tour revenues.

So far, the firm has yet to comment on the lawsuit. AP notes that last year Rihanna sued a Los Angeles real estate company over the 2009 purchase of a $6.9 million home, saying it had serious structural problems that made it inhabitable.