H.E.R. is taking legal action in hopes of extricating herself from her recording contract.
The R&B singer, whose real name is Gabriella Wilson, filed a lawsuit last week against MBK Entertainment alleging that their contract violates a California law limiting personal services contracts for state residents to seven years.
“Wilson’s seven years have run. MBK’s attempts to thwart this important and fundamental California public policy should not be condoned,” reads the filing.
MBK Entertainment signed H.E.R. in 2011, when she was only 14 years old. She has since released several EPs and one studio album, last year’s Back of My Mind.
According to the lawsuit, H.E.R. “has not been free to provide her recording services except as permitted or dictated by MBK.” She is seeking to have a court ruling that the contract with MBK is “voidable and may not be enforced against” her, as well as “restitution and disgorgement of funds” and other damages.
The filing noted that H.E.R. has already advised MBK that “she will no longer render personal services.”
H.E.R. won an Oscar in 2021 for Best Original Song (for “Fight For You” from Judas and the Black Messiah) and has won five Grammys. In 2020, she was named R&B Artist of the Year at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.