As Summer Walker disputes the terms of her record deal with Interscope, the R&B singer is separately accusing label/management firm LVRN of skimming money from her music, touring and merch.
Walker made headlines last week when news broke that she was seeking to terminate her deal with Interscope, leading the UMG imprint to sue her for damages. Now, court records obtained by Billboard show that Walker is also leveling different claims against LVRN for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract in a lawsuit initiated this past August.
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Walker signed a joint label deal with LVRN and Interscope in 2017. Her contract with LVRN was also a management deal that, according to the lawsuit, gave the company exclusive ownership over her touring, merch and name, image and likeness rights. Walker says she was not advised by an independent lawyer of her own before signing.
The singer now alleges the LVRN deal was unusually “harsh and oppressive,” and that these terms paved the way for the company to act in bad faith. She claims that LVRN fraudulently pocketed money from touring, recording, marketing and merch budgets, and that they improperly ran operating expenses through those budgets.
Walker further alleges that LVRN failed to give her any cut of Amazon merch sales that contained her name, image and likeness, and that it operated a YouTube page for her without her knowledge. She’s now asking a judge to declare the LVRN deal void and to award her unspecified financial damages.
“Plaintiff is informed and believes that Defendant has misappropriated a significant amount of monies that were otherwise due to Plaintiff under the recording agreement,” reads the lawsuit. “Plaintiff has asked Defendant repeatedly for an accounting of all of the expenses incurred by Plaintiff, and the gross income in connection with the recording agreement, and Defendant has steadfastly refused to do so.”
Reps for LVRN did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday (Oct. 13).
The LVRN lawsuit was filed four days after Walker sent Interscope a notice in August invoking her rights under California’s seven-year statute, a state law that allows individuals to cut off any personal contract that runs past that amount of time. But the statute has a carveout specific to the music industry: Under a 1987 amendment, labels can sue for damages if an artist chooses to exit a record deal after seven years but before all of their album commitments have been fulfilled.
Interscope did exactly that on Friday (Oct. 9), filing a $50 million lawsuit alleging Walker has only delivered three projects from her contract’s five-album commitment: her 2019 debut Over It, which hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the 2021 chart-topper Still Over It and another No. 2 set, Finally Over It, in 2025.
Interscope has said it’s “hopeful that our ongoing discussions will lead to an amicable resolution” with Walker. The singer’s lawyer plans to countersue the UMG label but also says she “remains open to a constructive resolution.”