02/13/15
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Rufftown Entertainment is suing two original members of En Vogue for over $300 million, claiming the R&B group violated an exclusive recording contract by signing with another label after recent comeback efforts fizzled.

The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges breach of contract, negligence, interference and fraud.

Rufftown owner René Moore says that he paid Cindy Herron, Terry Ellisand then-member Maxine Jones approximately $190,000 in 2010 in a deal that was to include two albums and touring. The advance included $40,000, plus travel costs, and $150,000 in studio fees.


After the comeback stalled, Jones was replaced in 2012 and they later signed with Pyramid Records. The plaintiffs allege that in July 2014 the current members of En Vogue conspired to sign the new contract with Pyramid, in violation of the terms of the exclusive pact with Moore and Rufftown.


The lawsuit lists En Vogue Enterprises, Herron, Ellis, new member Rhonda Bennett, lawyer Allen Jacobi and Pyramid among the defendants. Jones is spared from the suit because she has "substantially performed her obligation under the agreement" except for elements that are impossible because of the "conduct of En Vogue."

They handle their business well...

They can never seem 2 get it right.

damn shame this group can never seem to get it together.Every comeback attempt fails and there always seems to be some type of lawsuit,smh

I don't know how he thinks he's going to get 300 million from them or that he was going to make that much even if they had released that album. They weren't worth that much during their heyday. Maybe if it was U2, Bon Jovi, or The Rolling Stones, but not En Vogue. I wonder if this is the same René Moore from Rene & Angela

MickyDolenz said:

I wonder if this is the same René Moore from Rene & Angela.

Yes, I did some detective work and this is true.

Identity said:

MickyDolenz said:

I wonder if this is the same René Moore from Rene & Angela.

Yes, I did some detective work and this is true.

Oh my! I wonder if Rene Moore had something to do with their 2014 Christmas special, or if that was produced with the people Rene is mad En Vogue left him for.

Identity said:

After the comeback stalled, Jones was replaced in 2012 and they later signed with Pyramid Records. The plaintiffs allege that in July 2014 the current members of En Vogue conspired to sign the new contract with Pyramid, in violation of the terms of the exclusive pact with Moore and Rufftown.

I can't make sense of this agreement.

Dawn declined to sign this contract with Rufftown because she said it was bad, although she continued to perform concerts with En Vogue at the time.

a few years ago,weren't two of the ladies suing the other two ladies? that's what this group has become: non-stop lawsuits,bad deals,and failed comeback attempts.

MickyDolenz said:

I don't know how he thinks he's going to get 300 million from them or that he was going to make that much even if they had released that album. They weren't worth that much during their heyday. Maybe if it was U2, Bon Jovi, or The Rolling Stones, but not En Vogue. I wonder if this is the same René Moore from Rene & Angela

Hello

phunkdaddy said:

Before attacking EnVogue remember Rene Moore was a little messy himself.

Hot mess!

side-note, I watched about 5min of LifeTime's an "En'Vogue Christmas"..Wasnt enough to keep me hooked but at least they're working...

MickyDolenz said:

Dawn declined to sign this contract with Rufftown because she said it was bad, although she continued to perform concerts with En Vogue at the time.

As always, Dawn was/is THE only original member of En Vogue will any amount of sense to NEVER sign a CONtract with lousy stipulations.

MickyDolenz said:

has there ever been an Unsung episode on EnVogue? There's enough drama in this group for a 2-hour episode!!

MickyDolenz said:

I don't know how he thinks he's going to get 300 million from them or that he was going to make that much even if they had released that album. They weren't worth that much during their heyday. Maybe if it was U2, Bon Jovi, or The Rolling Stones, but not En Vogue. I wonder if this is the same René Moore from Rene & Angela

Yeah people with these suits are insane, EVEN if a judge awarded it, EN VOGUE is about 20 years past expired, I mean they are still here but if they could scrape together 100,000 that would be alot. Not sure what people think some of these artists make, just because they had some hits and toured a bit, and still play shows, it costs alot to put up a show rent a venue etc...their shows probably at best break even.

The group never fully regained its sensational upward trajectory following the departure of writers/producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy. Also, five years elasped between Funky Divas and 1997's Ev3, which did not fare as well as the previous two albums.

Identity said:

The group never fully regained its sensational upward trajectory following the departure of writers/producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy. Also, five years elasped between Funky Divas and 1997's Ev3, which did not fare as well as the previous two albums.

yeah,I always wondered why it took them so long to release a follow-up to Funky Divas.They were on top in 1992/93 but things began to fall apart soon thereafter.

TonyVanDam said:

MickyDolenz said:

Dawn declined to sign this contract with Rufftown because she said it was bad, although she continued to perform concerts with En Vogue at the time.

As always, Dawn was/is THE only original member of En Vogue will any amount of sense to NEVER sign a CONtract with lousy stipulations.

Dawn's a shady lady,though

I remember a Vibe interview with her,just right before her solo album came out.She was gloating at the fact that EnVogue's last album (the one they recorded without her) was a flop.But then her own album was released and guess what...it flopped too! LMAO

SoulAlive said:

TonyVanDam said:

As always, Dawn was/is THE only original member of En Vogue will any amount of sense to NEVER sign a CONtract with lousy stipulations.

Dawn's a shady lady,though

I remember a Vibe interview with her,just right before her solo album came out.She was gloating at the fact that EnVogue's last album (the one they recorded without her) was a flop.But then her own album was released and guess what...it flopped too! LMAO

She was my favorite member but man was she difficult to deal

with. Yeah I was probably about 1 of 50 people to buy Dawn's solo

album She dissed them on the last song of the album.

phunkdaddy said:

SoulAlive said:

Dawn's a shady lady,though

I remember a Vibe interview with her,just right before her solo album came out.She was gloating at the fact that EnVogue's last album (the one they recorded without her) was a flop.But then her own album was released and guess what...it flopped too! LMAO

She was my favorite member but man was she difficult to deal

with. Yeah I was probably about 1 of 50 people to buy Dawn's solo

album She dissed them on the last song of the album.

yeah,she's a very bitchy lady She had problems when she was in that other group Lucy Pearl,too.And her behavior on the R&B Divas reality show was atrocious.

Linn4days said:

Right.

I'm watching Amen and Cindy Herron is on it.

SoulAlive said:

Identity said:

The group never fully regained its sensational upward trajectory following the departure of writers/producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy. Also, five years elasped between Funky Divas and 1997's Ev3, which did not fare as well as the previous two albums.

yeah,I always wondered why it took them so long to release a follow-up to Funky Divas.They were on top in 1992/93 but things began to fall apart soon thereafter.

It was probably because they released the Runaway Love EP in between around late 1993

and that produced 2 hits for them the title track and What A Man. They were still riding that

wave even with Don't Let Go from the Set It Off soundtrack then things fell apart as there

were disagreements with Dawn, the label, and the group leading up to EV3 causing Dawn to leave

before the release of the album. In fact the group and the label had to take Dawn's vocals off

some of the songs.

such a shame if everything had been going great for them (and Dawn had stayed),the EV3 album could have been huge.

Don't forget two of their biggest hits after Funky Divas

1993:

1996: