American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard is suing Alabama clothing maker

the smoking gun ^ | 8.1.03 | smoking gun

[freepatriot32]

AUGUST 1--Oversized "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard is suing the Alabama clothing maker who once supplied him with those colorful "205" jerseys--size XXXXXXXXL--he wore on the Fox TV talent show. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Jefferson County Circuit Court, the corpulent crooner claims that 205 Flava, Inc., the Birmingham couturier, is improperly using images of the swollen singer to move its merch via its web site. The two-ton troubadour is seeking a court injunction against the firm, which the elephantine entertainer estimates to have earned north of $2 million by exploiting his image. The sweaty Studdard, currently headlining the "Pop-Tarts Presents American Idols Live Tour," opted for more fashionable clothing as he advanced through the Fox competition, leaving his damp 205 jerseys behind. Below you'll find a key excerpt from Studdard's complaint.

[lonestar]

His 15 minutes are up.

[JustPiper]

Funny how the summer replacement of American Junior and Fame and Cupid, some other good shows, were more relaxing, less controversial and more enjoyable than the Clay/Ruben fight ;)

[JustPiper]

the swollen singer

This irks me! But I thought the 205 jersey makers were Ruben's friends?

[billhilly]

I didn't realize that.

[floriduh voter]

I haven't read this yet. I don't know if there's anything Ruben can do legally. If they trademarked 205 for class 25, clothing, they have exclusive use. I'll read this now and see if they had a verbal or written agreement or no agreement. If they had no agreement, then essentially, Ruben was just "modeling" their shirts on AI with or without a release. It happens.

[floriduh voter]

The writer seems to have a million ways to call Ruben fat. That offends me and I'm average in size.

[floriduh voter]

If Ruben signed a Release to get the shirts to wear on AI, then he's sol. I went to a baseball clinic and in order to participate, I had to sign a Release that they could use my image for advertising for free.

Maybe his career isn't going as well as expected and now RCA owns him for life but if he doesn't sell for the long haul, they'll give him less opportunities.

Nothing against Ruben but I voted for Clay when the phone line would allow me to get through.

[floriduh voter]

Are you sure Studdard won a million dollars? I thought it was more like a record contract and/or 100K... That's survivor where they win a million dollars for eating creepy crawlers.