Man Who Named Lady Gaga Sues Lady Gaga For $30 Million
Record producer—and Gaga's ex!—Rob Fusari claims he came up with the brilliant name "Lady Gaga." Also: He co-wrote Gaga's best song (f'real!), "Paparazzi". Now he is suing the monster he created for $30 million.
Fusari's strategy is to basically claim credit for creating the Gaga we all know and love and/or fear today. In the lawsuit, he tells the story of a young 'guidette'—Stefani Germanotta—who showed up at his studio in 2006:
"Fusari was expecting someone a little more grunge-rocker than the young Italian girl 'guidette' that arrived at his doorstep and was worried that he had made a mistake," the suit says.
"Fusari then asked her to play one of her songs on the studio piano and within seconds realized that Germanotta had star potential. The trick would be coaxing it out of her."
In the process of "coaxing it out of her," he also became romantically involved with the Gaga, whose name he says was inspired by the Queen song "Radio Gaga." So, how much of this lawsuit is legit business stuff, and how much is just the natural result of a... not good romance?
Reached for comment, Lady Gaga said only: "RAH-RAH-AH-AH-AH-AH! ROMA-ROMA-MAMAA! GA-GA-OOH-LA-LA!" [NYDN]