Prince sued by Judith Hill’s former producer, Jolene Cherry, for leaking the singer’s new album Back in Time. However, Judith Hill’s lawyer is attacking Jolene Cherry, saying that the artist was never under contract and was, therefore, free to collaborate with Prince.
Prince is being sued by Jolene Cherry, who produced Judith Hill‘s debut album Back in Time. Judith Hill became a star after appearing on The Voice in 2013.
While she did not win, (Tessanne Chin took home the trophy), the folks at Sony and producer Jolene Cherry, who has collaborated with Lady Gaga, were impressed with Judith Hill’s talent. Sony and Cherry claimed they signed Hill to an exclusive recording deal.
However, few months ago, rumors started swirling that Judith Hill had been secretly meeting with Prince for few tracks. Hill, who once worked with Michael Jackson, came clean and asked Cherry for permission to collaborate with Prince, and the request was denied.
Out of anger or frustration, on March 23rd, Prince sent out an email where he invited fans to download Hill’s entire album for free. Prince wrote:
“A Note From Prince. Sorry 2 bother U. Please spend some time with this music and then share it with someone U love.”
In her lawsuit against Prince filed in a Los Angeles court, Jolene Cherry wrote:
“Judith Hill’s first album – Back in Time — is now out, but rather than cheering along with her, the people who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop her career and album and worked to position Hill for her first release (as well as those who co-wrote many of the songs) are sitting dumbfounded on the sidelines while Prince gives away their investment for free.”
Jolene Cherry has not mentioned Judith Hill in the lawsuit. Sony is not suing Prince, but they did advise the music icon not to release the album. Sony claimed that they no longer work with Cherry’s company, The Cherry Party. Judith Hill is fighting back via her lawyer, Peter Haviland. In a lawsuit filed in New York, Haviland stated:
“Judith Hill was and is absolutely free to perform her music as she has done.”
According to Haviland, Cherry left the company for numerous months after claiming that the music industry was trash, and she was tired of it. Haviland said that Cherry also released a fake story to TMZ about Hill writing a love song to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
The faux love song prompted Hill to end her contract with Cherry and move on with her career.
What are your thoughts on Prince getting sued?
