Jay Z‘s music label is suing his former protégé Rita Ora for breaking her recording contract and failing to deliver promised albums.
The $2.4 million Manhattan civil suit filed by Roc Nation comes just six weeks after Ora sued the label in California, claiming record execs pushed her aside when they started representing professional athletes.
In the new suit, Roc Nation counters that it’s spent over $2 million developing and marketing the British pop singer’s still-unreleased second album.
The label says the British ”X Factor” judge was supposed to deliver a total of five albums when she signed with Roc Nation in 2008, but has only put out one.
Roc Nation says it scooped up Ora, 25, when she was an “unknown singer” and “has tirelessly promoted [her] career, investing millions of dollars in marketing, recording and other costs, which was instrumental in guiding Ms. Ora to her current level of success and fame.”
The Los Angeles suit is still pending. Roc Nation says it filed the countersuit in Manhattan because Ora’s contact specifies that any litigation between the parties must take place in New York.
Ora’s attorney, Howard King, said, “Jay Z has personally and graciously promised Rita complete freedom from Roc Nation, the details of which are now being finalized.
“We believe that Roc Nation’s distributor, Sony Music, has required Roc Nation to file this action to preserve whatever rights Sony might have pending resolution,” King said.