Summer Walker sues LVRN for fraud and asks a court to void her 2017 deal

Summer Walker has filed her own lawsuit against LVRN, the Atlanta label and management company that signed her, accusing it of fraud and asking a court to declare her 2017 agreement void and unenforceable.

It lands days after Interscope sued her in Los Angeles for more than $50 million, arguing she still owes the label two albums. We covered that case in Interscope sues Summer Walker for more than $50 million. Walker's new filing attacks the deal from the other side.

What the complaint alleges

The complaint, a 10-page document, accuses LVRN of fraudulent concealment, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. Walker says money set aside for her career, including recording and touring budgets, was used to cover the company's own excessive expenses. She also says she was not paid revenue from YouTube and Amazon pages that carry her name and likeness.

She is asking for the September 15, 2017 agreement to be declared void, plus compensatory and punitive damages, with the amounts left to the court. These are Walker's allegations. None of them has been tested in court, and LVRN had not publicly responded at the time of writing.

Why it matters

Walker's lawyer, Keith Moten, has said the main aim is to end the LVRN contract. That sits alongside her move under California's seven-year rule, which lets a person leave a personal services contract after seven years. Her lawyers sent notice on August 27 that they consider her recording contract no longer enforceable. Interscope's suit responds to that notice, and a separate 1987 amendment lets a label claim damages when an artist leaves early without delivering all the albums owed.

For readers new to the story: Walker is one of the biggest names in modern R&B, and her three albums, Over It, Still Over It and Finally Over It, have made LVRN one of the genre's most closely watched labels. The two cases will decide who controls her catalogue and what she owes.

Her attorney has said Walker will vigorously defend her position, and both sides have indicated they are open to settling. Find her work on her artist page.