Has budding music star Ruben Studdard become too big for his britches--or just his shirts?
The portly popster has just filed a lawsuit against 205 Flava, the company behind the trademark jerseys he sported during his run on America Idol. He claims the clothing maker has been unfairly cashing in on his image, and he wants them to pay up.
Throughout the Idol competition this past spring, the 25-year-old Birmingham, Alabama, native wore a series of Flava jerseys sporting the number 205 to give props to his hometown--205 is the local area code.
He stopped wearing the jerseys toward the end of the competition in an effort to "class up" his look, but the style quickly took off, and 205 Flava scored big (unauthorized) sales, according to Studdard. Studdard says Flava has kept his photograph posted on their Website in spite of his repeated requests for them to stop. Studdard also says he hasn't made any money from the jersey sales, and a lawsuit is the only way to get his message out.
The singer's team of lawyers filed an injunction Wednesday to stop 205 Flava from unauthorized use of their client's image. They say the company has snapped up at least $2 million in sales due to Ruben's endorsement, and they are going to make sure he gets a cut. (A copy of the suit is online at the Smoking Gun.)
As of Friday morning, a shot of a singing Studdard in a yellow 205 shirt is still up at www.205flava.com, accompanied by the message "You gotta have the Flava."
Attorney LaVeeda Battle, who has repped 205 Flava in the past, has dismissed the suit as nonsense and says she is "shocked and disappointed" with Birmingham's native son. "They [205 Flava] have bent over backwards to help him, and they are really disappointed in his conduct at this point," she told the Birmingham News.
Studdard's lawyer Byron Perkins begs to differ and says he wants to look at 205 Flava's books ASAP--he claims that efforts to obtain any records from the company have been unsuccessful so far.
"We feel very strongly that 205 Flava benefited from their relationship. I can't advise my client what's fair and equitable to him unless I have some idea as to how much their income changed prior to Ruben Studdard and American Idol and after," he told the Birmingham News. "I can't tell him whether he should take $20 or $20,000. So until I see those records, we are shooting in the dark, and I refuse to do that."
The Studdard-205 Flava partnership started out on a much happier note. When Ruben was tapped as one of 32 Idol finalists, he got in touch with the company and requested a special set of jerseys with a specially enlarged 205. As soon as he made his TV debut, the shirts started flying off the racks, and the partnerships seemed to move happily along.
But as is the case in many prestardom collaborations, Studdard and 205 Flava parted ways in June, one month after his victory on the reality singing competition. At the time, Studdard told his fans that "I will always represent the area 205, but 205 Flava is not indicative of what I am about."
Flava founders (and newbie lawsuit defendants) Frederick and Willie Jenkins have not commented on the suit other to say they will be vindicated.
"[The true story] is going to come out in time," Willie Jenkins told the News.
Studdard better hope he gets happier results from this lawsuit than he has been getting for his debut single, "Flying Without Wings." The single debuted at number two in June behind runner-up Clay Aiken's smash "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and slipped to number three this week as Korn's "Did My Time" moved onto the charts.
Ruben avoided another embarrassing rematch loss when RCA decided not to release his and Clay's solo debuts simultaneously on August 19. No new release date has been announced.