Nicole Scherzinger has hit back at Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin over a lawsuit claiming she is blocking a reunion tour.
In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Friday, the choreographer – who founded the group as a dance troupe – claimed Scherzinger is requesting a larger share of the band’s new business venture, Pussycat Dolls Worldwide, and is refusing to perform unless her demands are met.
Scherzinger’s lawyer Howard King has now responded to the lawsuit in a statement to People, calling Antin’s claims “ludicrous and false” and alleged they “are a desperate attempt to divert blame for her own failures by trying to impose obligations on Nicole that simply do not exist.”
Antin alleged Scherzinger, the band’s frontwoman, is demanding she receive 75 per cent ownership of PCD Worldwide following an initial agreement that the Don’t Cha singer would receive 49 per cent to her founder’s controlling 51 per cent share.
She also claimed the 43-year-old also wants “complete creative control” and “final decision-making authority” in future ventures.
In November 2019, a decade after the group’s split, five of the six members of the Pussycat Dolls’ classic lineup announced they would be reforming. Scherzinger was to be joined by Ashley Roberts, Carmit Bachar, Kimberly Wyatt and Jessica Sutta – with only Melody Thornton declining to take part, having previously fallen out with the group after claiming her vocals were underused.
The lawsuit includes a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) drawn up and signed in advance of the tour’s announcement, showing that Roberts, Wyatt, and Sutta would each receive 12.5 per cent of net profits from the tour, Antin, who is described as the “chief executive officer, director and sole owner of PCD” would also receive 12.5 per cent. Bachar, who left the group in 2008 before the release of their second album, would receive five per cent of the takings. According to the MoU, Scherzinger stood to take home a mammoth 32.5 per cent share of the profits.
The documents also show the touring firm Live Nation invested $600,000 (£434,000) in the reunion, which will have to be returned if the concerts do not go ahead. King told People that Scherzinger is not responsible for that money. The tour was supposed to take place last year but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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