Lady Gaga is being sued for over $10 million by a toy company that claims she ruined a deal to make a personalized doll which samples some of her songs.
MGA Entertainment, known for its Bratz dolls, filed the suit against the pop star. The company said it paid a $1 million advance to Gaga's merchandizing company and spent even more to meet deadlines to place the dolls on shelves this summer.
The dolls were to be dressed in the singer's eccentric costumes, and feature a "voice chip" that played parts of her songs.
The toy maker said that the plans were however sabotaged by the singer when the merchandizer, Bravado International, no longer wanted to allow MGA Entertainment to use the singer's music. MGA claims that Bravado then made efforts to delay sales of the doll until 2013, in line with the release of Gaga's new album.
Gaga recently launched her new fragrance, Fame, and the singer's management company would prefer to focus their attention on that launch alone this year.
MGA claims that Gaga's refusal to allow the doll's release resulted in the company losing $28 million in expected revenue from the coming holiday season and delayed orders from 10 countries.
In the suit, MGA suggests that Gaga and her camp "engaged in intentional and deliberate delays" to assure that the doll does not release until next year.
MGA further claims that Gaga's representatives were initially excited about the doll, despite several requested tweaks.
Bobby Campbell, the vice president of Gaga's management company, the Atom Factory, asked that the doll be "more supermodel-like" with "more of a cat-eye and sexier, poutier lips."
Gaga's representative called the lawsuit "ill-conceived" and said that there was "no legitimate reason" to pull Gaga into a dispute that involves MGA and Bravado.
