17 Feb En Vogue members sued for $310 million by former record label
Two original members of ’90s R&B group En Vogue are being sued for more than $310 million by Rufftown Entertainment, which claims they violated an exclusive recording contract by signing with another label following a stalled comeback attempt.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges breach of contract, negligence, interference and fraud.
The group formed in Oakland in 1989 and recorded a number of hits over the next few years including My Lovin (You’re Never Gonna Get It) and Whatta Man.
Billboard reports Rufftown owner René Moore says that he paid Cindy Herron, Terry Ellis and then-member Maxine Jones around $190,000 in 2010, a deal that was to include two albums and touring.
Jones was replaced in 2012 and they later signed with Pyramid Records. It is claimed that in July 2014 the current members of En Vogue conspired to sign the new contract with Pyramid, violating the terms of the exclusive deal with Moore and Rufftown. Fraudulent and illegal documents were used, according to the filing.
En Vogue Enterprises, Herron, Ellis, new member Rhonda Bennett, lawyer Allen Jacobi and Pyramid are listed among the defendants, while Jones is spared from the suit because she has “substantially performed her obligation under the agreement”.
Jones briefly formed a new En Vogue in 2012 with another original member, Dawn Robinson, before a judge ruled Heron and Ellis owned the rights to the name. Since then Robinson joined reality show R&B Divas: L.A. and Jones has embarked on a solo career.
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