Posted June 27, 201113 yr Lady Gaga has been sued for £3.1million after allegedly profiteering from her own charity wristband she sold to help the victims of the Japanese earthquake. The singer is said to have grossly overcharged for shipping costs and wrongly put sales tax on what should have been a charitable donation. She is also accused of retaining some of the money paid for the wristband itself despite assuring fans all the money would go to Japan. Mail Online has contacted the star's representatives but there has been no reply as yet. Gaga has been sued under her real name of Stefani Germanotta under charges normally used to fight racketeering. Live Nation Merchandising, Universal Music and a number of Gaga’s business ventures have also been named too. The lawsuit, filed at the U.S Federal Court in Detroit, states that they all used a ‘deceptive advertising campaign’ and a ‘pattern of racketeering’ to persuade the public to buy the $5 (£3.10) wristband from Gaga’s official website. The court papers state they ‘misrepresented to individuals and to the public at large...that ‘all proceeds’ derived from the wristbands would be donated to the (Japan) Relief Effort’. In reality, the lawsuit says, a portion of the cost of the wristband was held back and kept as profit. It also claims that fans were charged £2.50 for shipping when the real cost was 31p - and Gaga and her associates kept the difference. The lawsuit states that the "Poker Face" star ‘then used the inflated financials to solicit additional "donations" as evidence of the good they were doing.' The allegation, if true, will be mortifying for Gaga who had made much of her strong ethics, notably on issues like gay rights. She has also repeatedly spoken about how she identifies with those in society who are on the edges or have been excluded. The wristband is still for sale on Gaga’s official merchandising website with the caption: ‘Little Monsters, show your support for Japan with this ‘We Pray For Japan’ wristband! Choose your price to add an additional donation with your wristband. All proceeds go directly to Japan relief efforts.’ Within 48 hours of its launch it raised £156,000, though it is not clear what the final total is. The class action lawsuit has been brought by U.S. consumer attorneys 1-800-Law-Firm on behalf an unspecified number of individuals. It was filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) act, which has been used to try Catholic sex abuse cases and criminality by the Hells Angels Motorcycle club. Gaga and the other defendants have 30 days to respond. Ari Kresch, a lawyer with the company, said that it filed the lawsuit after being contacted by Gaga fans who felt they had been cheated. ‘Other stars will encourage you to donate to a legitimate charity like the Red Cross but Lady Gaga took it upon herself to collect the money and did not turn it over. We don’t know the extent of Lady Gaga’s involvement but this was done by people representing her, this was done on her watch,’ he said.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/artic...wristbands.html
June 27, 201113 yr What a disgraceful woman. I bet this is only the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure she's got lots of money tied up in prostitution and drug rings in Guatemala and probably has links with meth factories in the mid-west... Still BEYONCÉ IS A MURDERER
June 29, 201113 yr Simon Cowell >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Lady GaGa. At least he gave 1/100 of the proceeds to charity with his X-factor singles.
June 30, 201113 yr Lady Gaga has now denied it and one of her reps have said that all the money goes towards the charity in Japan. Also she received an award from the government of Japan for contributing to the help of the country in the disaster.
