NEW YORK — Lady Gaga is firing back at a music producer who claims he launched her career and is suing her for $30.5 million.
Her attorney said in a court filing made public Friday that the agreement at the heart of the lawsuit was “unlawful.” Songwriter and music producer Rob Fusari filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Manhattan against the Grammy Award-winning performer.
He said his protege and former girlfriend, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, ditched him as her career soared.
But Lady Gaga lawyer Charles Ortner wrote in his response that their arrangement was “structured in such a way as to mask its true purpose — to provide to the defendants unlawful compensation for their services as unlicensed employment agents.”
Fusari’s lawyer, Robert S. Meloni, called the claim “ludicrous” in an e-mail to The Associated Press. The Associated Press
