Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of Lady Gaga by Callahan Maureen

Author:Callahan, Maureen [Callahan, Maureen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography
ISBN: 9780786891382
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 7972785
Publisher: Hyperion
Published: 2010-09-14T00:00:00+00:00

Fusari follows that up with an explanatory note: “All business is personal,” he writes. “When these personal relationships evolve into romantic entanglements, any corresponding business relationship usually follows the same trajectory so that when one crashes they all burn. That is what happened here.” He went on to allege that he’d only received two royalty checks from Lady Gaga, one for $203,000 and one for $394,965. On the latter, he said, was a note on the back that read, “endorsed in accord and satisfaction of all sums due to undersigned”—meaning that had he signed the check, he would have been signing away all rights to future monies.

On March 19, Gaga filed a countersuit. Meanwhile, Fusari’s original lawyer, Robert Meloni, wound up bowing out of the case, subbing in another lawyer from his firm. Gaga’s contention was that Fusari was acting as both her agent and manager, which, says a high-profile entertainment lawyer who’s gone up against Meloni, violates employment statutes. But what this attorney, who asked to remain unnamed, finds most interesting is that Fusari, the industry veteran, is essentially claiming that this very young girl exploited him.

“Typically, the artist says, ‘This guy took advantage of me and shoved this agreement down my throat,’ ” the attorney says. “It’s a little different twist here, where he’s saying, ‘I would have done this typical deal, [but she and her father] took me down this path and now they’re saying, ‘Screw you.’ ”

The overall intent on both sides, she says, was to attract as much media attention as possible—Fusari with the maudlin opening to his complaint, exposing their romantic relationship, and Gaga with her high-profile, immediate countersuit.

Veteran entertainment lawyer Josh Grier believes that, no matter the merits of Fusari’s complaint—and he thinks it’s reasonable—Gaga will outlast him by sheer dint of her financial resources, even though he thinks her counterclaim is exceptionally weak: “Just denying everything is not enough,” he says. That said, she can keep him in litigation longer, cost him more money than he can afford to spend, force him to back down.

“It looks like gamesmanship to me,” Grier says. “The game of litigation in the music business—nobody ever goes to trial.” He estimates that Fusari spent $25,000 just to file the complaint. “Does he really have the money to [pursue] it?” asks the lawyer. “These litigators are real mercenaries. I expect at some point it’ll be settled and you’ll go, ‘What’s the settlement?’ and they’ll go, ‘Sorry, it’s confidential.’ It’s like reading a book, and somebody’s torn out the last chapter.”

Rob Fusari, at the time of this writing, was still with his fiancée.

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