The band Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, said they are suing singer Anita White over a disagreement that stemmed from their name change.
In a statement to E! News, Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and David Haywood said in part, "Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended. She and her team have demanded a $10 million payment, so reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that we need to ask a court to affirm our right to continue to use the name Lady A, a trademark we have held for many years."
The group requests no money from White nor do they wish to prevent her from using the name Lady A. According to the court documents obtained by E! News, they solely ask the court to acknowledge their lawful use of the trademarked name Lady A.
Additionally, the stars shared their remorse over how discussions between them and White fell apart.
"When we learned that Ms. White had also been performing under the name Lady A, we had heartfelt discussions with her about how we can all come together and make something special and beautiful out of this moment," they explained in their statement. "We never even entertained the idea that she shouldn't also be able to use the name Lady A, and never will—today's action doesn't change that. Instead, we shared our stories, listened to each other, prayed and spent hours on the phone and text writing a song about this experience together. We felt we had been brought together for a reason and saw this as living out the calling that brought us to make this change in the first place."
The statement continued, "We're disappointed that we won't be able to work together with Anita for that greater purpose. We're still committed to educating ourselves, our children and doing our part to fight for the racial justice so desperately needed in our country and around the world."
The group reaffirmed their desire to "prioritize racial equality as a key pillar of the work of LadyAID," their charitable organization, and expressed hope that White and her advisers "will change their minds about their approach" to this disagreement. "We can do so much more together than in this dispute," the singers concluded.
It was just a few weeks ago that the country trio stated that they found "common ground" with the blues singer through private discussions on the matter.
In the court documents, it was stated that during those conversations the band and White talked about "the band and artist possibly writing and recording a song together and the group promoting White's career," which was included an official agreement presented by the band.
However, White told Newsday on Tuesday that she was not satisfied with their offer. "I'm not happy about [it] yet again after talking in good faith. … Their camp is trying to erase me and I'll have more to say tomorrow. Trust is important and I no longer trust them," White said to the outlet.
E! News has reached out to White for comment, but has not heard back.
The disagreement between White and Lady A ignited when the famous trio announced they would be changing their name Lady Antebellum in acknowledgement of the "associations that weigh down" the word associated with slavery. They wrote, "We are committed to examining our individual and collective impact and making the necessary changes to practice antiracism."