Rihanna Hits Topshop With 5 Million Dollar Lawsuit

Fashion costs–especially if you’re using the likeness of a popstar, without her permission. According to Page Six, Rihanna is suing British retail giant Topshop — chaired by billionaire Sir Philip Green. Reportedly, she’s hitting them with a $5 million for selling T-shirts with image, without her consent.

Allegedly, an inside source shared:

Rihanna’s management asked Topshop a number of times to stop selling her image and were told, ‘We do what we want.’ They buy the pictures from a photographer, but they do not pay the artist licensing fees. Unfortunately, UK law does not protect the artist. What is most offensive for Rihanna is that they basically told her, ‘Go to hell. We don’t care; we are going to continue selling you.’ Topshop is now in the United States. They set up in Manhattan and Nordstrom, but they know better than to do this in the US because they would get in trouble.

The source continued:

Even though the UK laws don’t protect the artist, she has decided to move forward and sue Topshop. She has spent almost $1 million in litigation at this point. She says it’s the principle, and wants to make a statement about it. They are taking advantage of artists. It is just exploitation. What they are doing is wrong.

Topshop has released a response to the outlet, stating:

This issue is related to a T-shirt provided to Topshop by a third-party supplier. We are aware it is the subject of litigation. [There are] public documents” available for inspection in the London court. The amount of damages sought has not been articulated anywhere in the claimant’s document.