Pop superstar Bad Bunny is being sued for $40 million (£33 million) by his ex-girlfriend, who claims he utilized an unauthorized recording of her in two songs.
Carliz De La Cruz Hernández says she recorded the phrase “Bad Bunny baby” on her phone in 2015, before he became famous and before they broke up, before he got famous and before they broke up.
The line appeared on the 2017 single Pa Ti and the 2022 song Dos Mil 16 by the Puerto Rican singer and rapper.
Three years ago, Bad Bunny was the most-streamed artist on Spotify. He has not responded publicly to Ms. De La Cruz’s lawsuit filed in Puerto Rico earlier this month.
According to the report, the couple met in 2011 and both worked in a supermarket while Bad Bunny, whose actual name is Benito Martnez Ocasio, made music.
She recorded multiple variations of herself reciting the line “Bad Bunny baby” using the voice notes app in the bathroom of a friend’s house, which was the quietest room, and sent them to Martnez.
He used them in a series of early Soundcloud tracks before releasing Pa Ti, which has had over 355 million views on YouTube and 235 million listens on Spotify.
“Overwhelmed and tense”
Last year, days before the release of Bad Bunny’s latest album Un Verano Without Te, his managers allegedly offered to purchase the rights to the line from Ms. De La Cruz for $2,000 (£1,500).
The CD was issued with her line on it against her refusal. Un Verano Without Te was nominated for album of the year at the Grammys, while Dos Mil 16 has had 60 million YouTube views and 280 million Spotify streams.
Ms. De La Cruz asserts that her recording has been utilized at performances and contends that this constitutes “gross negligence, bad faith, and, worse still, an assault on her privacy, morals, and dignity.”
With the release of the most recent album, hundreds of Bad Bunny fans have commented on Ms. De La Cruz’s social media profiles and discussed the album with her in person, she said.
“This has caused and continues to cause De La Cruz to feel fearful, anguished, frightened, overpowered, and apprehensive,” stated the legal declaration.
De La Cruz’s situation deteriorated to the point where she needed to contact various psychologists immediately for assistance.
The pair separated in 2016, but briefly reconciled the following year.
Ms. De La Cruz is also suing the record label and manager of Bad Bunny, Rimas Entertainment, and Noah Assad, respectively.
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