In her 2010 song, Rihanna asks “What’s My Name?” Now, she has gone to court over her last name.
The singer filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in California alleging that her father is trading on their surname — Fenty — which she made famous, for financial gain.
Rihanna, 30, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, alleges in the suit against Ronald Fenty and his business partner, Moses Joktan Perkins, the two men “have egregiously and fraudulently misrepresented to third parties and the public that their company, Fenty Entertainment, LLC, is affiliated with Rihanna, and has the authority to act on her behalf.”
Fenty Entertainment allegedly tried to book concerts for her without her authorization and used the singer’s name “to solicit millions of dollars from unsuspecting third parties,” says the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
The suit accuses the two men of seeking to trade on Rihanna’s “hard-earned success and the recognition and goodwill associated with her last name and her Fenty brand of products.”
Rihanna, who launched the makeup line Fenty Beauty in 2017, is claiming in the suit that the two men engaged in false advertising and invasion of privacy. The singer has trademarked the name Fenty, according to U.S. trademark records.
Neither Ronald Fenty nor Moses Perkins could be immediately reached for comment.
She is seeking an injunction on her father’s use of the Fenty name and unspecified damages, according to the suit.
