Email

Judge dismisses wig lawsuit against rapper Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj performs during the "Fashion Rocks 2014" concert in the Brooklyn borough of New York September 9, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

(Reuters) – A judge has dismissed a $30 million federal lawsuit by a celebrity hair stylist who accused rapper and former “American Idol” judge Nicki Minaj of stealing his designs for the colorful wigs that helped boost her career.

Nicki Minaj performs during the “Fashion Rocks 2014” concert in the Brooklyn borough of New York September 9, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Although the wigs Minaj wore are “unique and distinctive in the ordinary sense of the word,” they were not recognizable by the public as having been designed by Terrence Davidson, the stylist who brought the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy ruled Thursday.

Davidson, whose celebrity clients include singers Patti LaBelle and Jennifer Hudson, began working for Minaj in 2010 and designed her wigs for high-profile events worldwide, said the suit filed in Atlanta last February.

The rapper also wore Davidson-designed wigs in a music video for the song “Super Bass,” according to the lawsuit. One of Minaj’s best-known wigs is called the “Pink Upper Bun.” When Davidson stopped working for Minaj more than a year ago, the pop star began copying his wig designs and selling them online, he alleged.

Davidson’s representatives claim it is the first-ever intellectual property lawsuit over wigs. They did have an immediate comment Thursday on the suit’s dismissal.

 

(Editing by David Adams. Editing by Andre Grenon)

Related posts

Columbia University protests look increasingly like those in 1968 as police storm campuses nationwide

Nearly 2,200 people have been arrested during pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses

A look at the protests about the war in Gaza that have emerged on US college campuses