Britney Spears Sued for $10 Million Over Alleged Fragrance Fraud
Fresh off the thrill of releasing her much-anticipated new album Femme Fatale and being praised by designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Britney Spears has received some news about her fragrance collection that really stinks: The singer is being sued for $10 million by former business partners on charges of fraud, deceit, and breach of contract, reports RadarOnline.
In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on March 30, Brand Sense Partners, LLC, claims the pop princess and her father, Jamie, cheated them out of a 35 percent commission on sales of Britney's fragrances.
“In 2004, Brand Sense identified and implemented a lucrative brand licensing deal for Britney with the cosmetics manufacturer Elizabeth Arden, Inc. … That deal provides for the sale of Britney Spears-branded licensed products, including fragrance,” reads the court document. “Per the term of the parties’ agreement, Brand Sense is contractually entitled to a 35 percent commission on any Britney Spears-branded fragrance sold by Elizabeth Arden.”
Britney’s nine scents—including Radiance, Fantasy, Curious, and Believe—earn an estimated $15 million per year, and Brand Sense raked in a pretty penny until early 2010, when Britney and her father allegedly “reneged on their agreement to evade their contractual obligations.”
Brand Sense asserts that Britney contacted Elizabeth Arden and asked the company to send all royalties directly to her. (They had previously sent the money to Brand Sense for distribution.) After being “caught red-handed,” Jamie said his daughter felt their commission was too high and didn’t want to pay it. He then convinced Brand Sense to modify their agreement in April 2010 so that Elizabeth Arden would send separate royalty checks to Britney and Brand Sense.
What Brand Sense didn’t know, they allege, is that Jamie and Britney had already made a new licensing deal with Elizabeth Arden months earlier, in January 2010. “[The] defendants’ scheme was to induce Brand Sense to step out of the accounting/payment process, so they could covertly enter into, and get paid under, a ‘new’ agreement with Elizabeth Arden, and Brand Sense would not know the difference.”
Brand Sense only became aware of this new licensing deal when they noticed that the Radiance fragrance, which was released in September 2010, was not included in the revised royalty report they received from Elizabeth Arden in February 2011.
“Britney secretly made a separate deal with Elizabeth Arden in a sneaky underhanded effort to circumvent and evade its obligations to Brand Sense,” the suit claims. “Effectively, Britney improperly and illegally cut Brand Sense out of the Elizabeth Arden deal.”
Brand Sense is now seeking more than $10 million as well as compensatory and punitive damages, reports RadarOnline.
“Britney’s affirmative misrepresentations, concealment and evasive actions are disappointing because Brand Sense has been a successful and dedicated representative for Britney throughout multiple management changes and difficulties experienced by Ms. Spears,” the document states. “Brand Sense’s efforts generated millions of dollars in revenue for Ms. Spears when she otherwise would have had little or none.”
The Spears camp had no comment as of press time.
