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Hard times are a-coming for apparel retailer Forever 21. Not only the retailer recently admitted to considering filing for bankruptcy, but now they have a hefty lawsuit coming their way.
Ariana Grande slammed Forever 21 with a $10 million lawsuit on Labor Day for stealing multiple of her songs and using a model that resembled her. The federal suit came at a time when the retailer is financially in debt and considering filing for bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg.
Part of Grande’s accusations are that the store used her name and likeness to promote Forever 21 products and launch the beauty company, Billy Rose, Forever 21’s founders’ daughters company, reported Cosmopolitan.
Grande claimed that the store hired a look-alike model and used her hit shopping song “7 Rings” to lead consumers into thinking the singer was involved in a marketing campaign with Forever 21.
In reality, Grande and Forever 21 were in the talks of developing a joint marketing campaign back in February, but given the fashion retailer’s financial struggles, they couldn’t afford to pay the singer a good amount of money so she walked out of the deal, according to Cosmopolitan.
As of press time, Forever 21 has not responded to any claims related to the lawsuit and it’s allegedly keeping busy seeking the advice of many financial advisers and lenders.
Filing for bankruptcy will help Forever 21 close off unprofitable stores, but this action could harm the biggest mall owners in the country since Forever 21 is the most prevalent tenant in malls despite the current retail sector apocalypse, according to Bloomberg.
Closing several Forever 21 stores across the nation would make it harder for mall owners to fill the numerous vacancies quickly.
Last March a filing showed that Forever 21 ranks as the sixth-largest tenant for mall owner, Simon Property Group Inc, with a total of 99 outlets covering 1.5 million square feet, according to Bloomberg.
