MUSIC
Why Bad Bunny is being sued by his ex-girlfriend
The rapper is being sued by his ex-girlfriend for using her voice in his songs without her permission
Bad Bunny’s ex-girlfriend Carliz de la Cruz Hernández is suing the Puerto Rican rapper for the unauthorized use of her voice in his music.
She’s asking for $40 million for his continued use of a voice recording she made when the couple was still together in 2015, well before the rapper became the international star that he is today.
What started the lawsuit?
Fans remember hearing De la Cruz’s voice in the 2016 song ‘Pa Ti’, which opens with De la Cruz’s saying the words “Bad Bunny, baby.”
De la Cruz says she recorded the audio in 2015 at Bad Bunny’s request, recording the audio in the bathroom of a friend’s house on her phone, according to reporting by Puerto Rican news outlet Noticel.
After the couple broke up in 2016, she later heard the use of her voice in 2017 but did not react.
The trouble started last year when Bad Bunny was about to release his Grammy-winning album ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’.
Bad Bunny’s team contacted De la Cruz to offer her $2000 to use her voice in the new song ‘Dos Mil 16′ where the rapper reminisces on his past relationship, which she immediately declined, adding that she would not sign anything that wasn’t in writing.
The offer was made hours before the album was to be released, with De la Cruz and Bad Bunny’s team going back and forth, pressuring her to accept the amount, upping their offering to $20,000 which she did not accept. The team then sent her an offer in writing via email, which she found to be deceptive with the terms it stated.
The album was ultimately released with De la Cruz’s vocals still intact. It has since become one of the most streamed albums in the United States with 4.2 billion on-demand audio streams and 3.4 million total album equivalent consumption, according to Forbes.
“Thousands of people have commented directly on Carliz’s social media networks, as well as every time she goes to a public place, about ‘Bad Bunny, baby.’ This has caused, and currently causes, de la Cruz to feel worried, anguished, intimidated, overwhelmed and anxious,” the lawsuit states.
De la Cruz isn’t suing only Bad Bunny
Since ending her relationship with the ‘Me Porto Bonito’ rapper, De la Cruz has become a lawyer in Puerto Rico, and certainly knows her way around the law.
In her current lawsuit against Bad Bunny she’s not just suing him, she’s also going after his manager Noah Kamil Assad Byrne, and his record label Rimas Entertainment for their involvement in the unauthorized use of her voice in Bad Bunny’s music.
Since then, the song ‘Dos Mil 16′ has been streamed over 60 million times on YouTube and 280 million times on Spotify. ‘Pa Ti’ has been streamed 355 million times on YouTube and 235 million times on Spotify.