The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Kandi Burruss filed a lawsuit last week against her ex-cast mate, Kim Zolciak, claiming she was not properly compensated for her work on Kim’s single “Tardy for the Party.” Kandi, along with co-writer Rodney Richards, are seeking “damages for copyright infringement due to Defendants’ unauthorized and unlawful licensing, distribution and sale of Plaintiffs’ creative works,” according to the suit. Kandi is also suing TuneCore, which is responsible for distributing music to online retailers.
The whole “did or didn’t Kandi get paid for the song” was a major issue during Season 3 and the topic came up again at the Season 4 reunion, but since that time Kandi seemed ready to let bygones be bygones; telling Andy Cohen at the reunion, “That was a learning experience, but I feel like good things have come out of me working with her.”
So of course the big question on everyone’s mind is why is Kandi suing Kim over “Tardy For The Party” now. three years after its release?
Kandi told Hip Hollywood that she basically had to file a lawsuit against Kim because TuneCore said it would be the only way Kandi could get them to take the song down. “It’s time for the whole ordeal to be over,” Kandi says. “I asked TuneCore to take the song down in December 2012. They did. Kim sent an affidavit to put it back up, which they did. TuneCore then informed me that in order for the song to be taken down permanently I would need to file suit to have it removed.”
So legal action was Kandi’s last recourse. “I never wanted to go that route but after being told that it is the only way to get the song removed, I had no other choice….This is not a publicity stunt. I no longer wish for anyone to benefit from the work that Don Vito and I created.”
Well, Kim seems to have a different opinion on Kandi’s decision to file a lawsuit now; she issued a lengthy press release through her spokesman, Mike Paul, that insinuates that the timing of Kandi’s lawsuit is suspicious. “The lawsuit led by Kandi Burruss and Rodney Richard aka Don Vito against Kim Zolciak-Biermann over the song ‘Tardy For The Party’ is without merit and suspicious in its timing. We also find the handling of the lawsuit by another cast member on the show, and the timing of Kandi’s attempt to launch her own spinoff reality show, raises serious questions about the true motives behind the filing this lawsuit for alleged record royalties due from a song that was released over three and a half years ago.”
Of course, the cast member the statement refers to is none other than fellow cast mate and real-life attorney Phaedra Parks, who is representing Kandi in the suit.
The statement continues: “The song was created by four people who share in the royalties: Kim, her daughter (who co-wrote the original song in season one of the RHOA show before Kandi joined the show in season two), Kandi and Don Vito.” The daughter to whom the statement refers is Kim’s oldest Brielle Zolciak, who was about 11 years old in Season 1.
In addition, Kim claims Kandi was paid: “To date, Kim has written checks to Kandi and Don Vito in excess of $23,000. In fact, we believe that Kim may have overpaid a portion of their share to date based on the actual record sales.”
The last part of the statement is a huge slap in the face to Kandi; Kim basically calls Kandi an amateur and says she should know better: “But we find the greatest truth in the fact that Kandi Burruss has been in the music business for many years and it appears she has made many mistakes in dealing with the song. We assume this has been a major lesson for Kandi. Maybe focusing on her next 15 minutes of fame should not have been the priority for Kandi versus three and a half years after the song was released, Kandi realizing she handled all aspects of the song in a very sloppy and messy way. We understand it is not the first time either. As Kandi is also a music industry veteran, it is also a shame.”
Oh no she didn’t! And 15 minutes of fame?! Kandi’s been a major player in the music industry since the 90’s! And what does she mean, “We understand it is not the first time either.” When was the first time?! Girlfriends making all sorts of accusations but we don’t have all the facts! We wonder what Kandi’s going to have to say about this; it might be time for another wig-pull…
Kandi’s new show, The Kandi Factory, premieres April 9 at 10/9c on Bravo and Kim’s new show, Don’t Be Tardy…, premieres April 16 at 9/8c, also on Bravo.
