Jay Z's company, Roc Nation, is suing Rita Ora for $2.3m after the company issued a countersuit in response to Ora’s demand to be released from the label – but a settlement is expected soon. According to Billboard, Ora’s lawyer says Roc Nation had to file it to avoid losing standing in the case. The claim is that Jay Z had called Ora after she filed her suit, agreeing to release her, and that the two parties were finalising the details. The only complication involved Jay Z getting Roc Nation’s parent company, Sony Music, to agree to the settlement.
Roc Nation claims it has “tirelessly promoted” the singer's career and spent millions on her still undelivered second album.
Ora’s debut album, Ora, was a UK No 1, and contained two UK No 1 singles, RIP and How We Do (Party). In 2013, she said she had been working with Dev Hyneson her second album. Though she has released a series of hit singles apparently from those sessions – I Will Never Let You Down was a third solo No 1 in May 2014 – no album has appeared.
In the suit, filed in the California superior court, the label claims it has “tirelessly promoted” Ora’s career and spent $2.3m on her still undelivered second album and it is calling for the return of that money, and damages for the albums she has not delivered.
The claim counters the X Factor judge’s lawsuit seeking to end her contract with Roc Nation, arguing that a change in direction at the company meant she had been ignored since releasing an album with the label in 2012.
Rita joined Roc Nation when she was just 18-years-old and was one of the first of Jay Z's signings.
Her court action is still ongoing.