Rita Ora sued for $2.3m by Jay Z's Roc Nation over failure to deliver new album
Ora's lawyer has said that Jay Z has agreed to free Ora from her contract with the record label
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Your support makes all the difference.Rita Ora is being sued for $2.3 million by Jay Z’s Roc Nation record label for allegedly breaking her contract and failing to release a second album.
The “Poison” singer was one of the rapper’s first signings in 2008, when she signed a management contract and five-album deal as a newcomer aged 18. To date she has only delivered one album, 2012 number one debut Ora.
Since being catapulted to stardom however, dealings have turned sour, with Ora filing a lawsuit against the “diminished” company in December claiming that her contract “violates California law and is unenforceable”.
Her complaint read: “When Rita signed, Roc Nation and its senior executives were very involved with her as an artist. As Roc Nation’s interests diversified, there were fewer resources available and the company suffered a revolving door of executives. Rita’s remaining supporters at the label left or moved on to other activities, to the point where she no longer had a relationship with anyone at the company.”
Ora has also argued that her music should not be being distributed by Sony when the label switched partners to Universal in 2013.
Roc Nation’s response six weeks later is to countersue the 25-year-old, claiming that it has “tirelessly promoted” her, “investing millions of dollars in marketing, recording and other costs instrumental in guiding [Ora] to her current level of success and fame”.
Howard King, Ora’s attorney, told Page Six: “Jay Z has personally and graciously promised Rita complete freedom from Roc Nation, the details of which are now being finalised.
“We believe that Roc Nation’s distributor, Sony Music, has required Roc Nation to file this action to preserve whatever rights Sony might have pending resolution.”
Ora was recently a judge on The X Factor after previously serving on The Voice’s panel.
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