Rihanna Is Suing Her Father, Says He's Exploiting The Fenty Name And Making Fraudulent Business Deals

Rihanna and her father seem to be in the early stages of a legal battle.

The 30-year-old singer filed a lawsuit Tuesday against her father, Ronald Fenty, for capitalizing on the family name and falsely suggesting that his company is connected to hers, Variety reports.

In a suit that lists Rihanna and her two companies, Roraj Trade LLC and Combermere Entertainment Properties, as the plaintiffs, the Fenty Beauty founder accuses her father and his business partner, Moses Joktan Perkins, of “fraudulently misrepresenting” their company, Fenty Entertainment, LLC, and soliciting millions of dollars by claiming that they have been authorized to make deals and arrange international performances on Rihanna’s behalf.

“Although Mr Fenty is Rihanna's father, he does not have, and never has had, authority to act on Rihanna's behalf, nor has he ever been authorized to use her name, intellectual property or publicity rights,” reads court documents obtained by Variety.

Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, has become a mainstay in the beauty industry following the groundbreaking launch of her cosmetics company, Fenty Beauty. The company famously made $100 million dollars in sales within 40 days of its September 2017 release, and the brand was named one of TIME’s best inventions of 2017 later that year.

Rihanna’s suit accuses her father and his partner of trying to “exploit” the success of the Fenty brand in a myriad of ways, including tying the name to a venture involving “resort hotel services.” On another occasion, Rihanna’s father and his business partner allegedly tried to negotiate a deal with an entertainment company that would involve Rihanna playing 15 shows throughout Latin America in exchange for $15 million dollars. All of this and more they’ve done without Rihanna’s permission and despite being ordered to desist multiple times, her suit states.

“Blatantly ignoring these demands to cease and desist, Defendants continue to falsely state and advertise to third parties that the Company is affiliated with Rihanna and the Fenty brand in an effort to solicit investments from third parties who were led by Defendants to believe that Defendants are affiliated with Rihanna and the Fenty brand,” the suit reads.

Rihanna’s suit is seeking a jury trial as well as an injunction that would stop Fenty and Perkins from continuing their activities. She is also seeking punitive and compensatory damages.

Rihanna and her father have historically had a complicated relationship. The “Work” singer spoke out in 2009 about witnessing her father being abusive toward her mother as a child, but said in 2012 that she’d made peace with him.

[Photo: Getty Images]