Jimmie Allen, the country music singer whose career took a nosedive after he was twice accused of sexual misconduct, says in a recently filed lawsuit that his record label threw him under the bus when the allegations surfaced.
Allen says that at the time his former manager sued and accused him of sexual assault in May 2023, BBR Music Group was still obligated to represent him, promote his new single “be alright,” and maintain his website. Instead, the label suspended him and dropped him and, according to the lawsuit, withheld royalties Allen thinks he is owed.
BBR Music Group has not filed anything in court, and it did not respond to an email sent the morning of Jan. 30.
The timeline of events will likely be critical to the case. Here is how things went down, as described in the lawsuit:
- BBR Music Group and Allen’s contract extension ended April 14, 2023.
- BBR released “be alright” digitally April 15, 2023, and the music video for the song April 26, 2023.
- Under the the terms of the contract, the contract remained in place until some time in May 2023, a year past when Allen delivered the master recordings for his album “Tulip Drive” on an unspecified date in May 2022.
- Allen’s former manager sued him May 11, 2023. BBR said it suspended Allen the same day, and the lawsuit says the label then stopped promoting “be alright.”
- A second woman sued Allen June 9, 2023. BBR announced the same day it “dissolved” its relationship with Allen. The lawsuit alleges BBR did not have a contractual right to suspend or drop Allen.
Even though Allen is the focus of the lawsuit, he is not the one suing.
In an attempt to revive his music career and saddled with lawyer’s fees from lawsuits, Allen took a loan from music industry veteran Joseph Marsh at some unspecified time. Allen gave Marsh the rights to his claims against BBR Music Group in September in exchange for forgiving some of his debts.
Marsh filed the lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court on Jan. 8. He is represented by Washington, D.C.-area attorney Rob Housman and Centreville attorney Sarah Nash.
In May 2023, Allen’s former day-to-day manager sued him in federal court, alleging he repeatedly sexually abused and harassed her while she worked for him from 2020 to 2022, and that he once raped her while she was incapacitated. Allen and the former manager settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount in March 2024.
Allen was sued in June 2023 by a woman who accused him of exceeding their agreed sexual boundaries and secretly recording a sexual encounter in a Las Vegas hotel room in July 2022. A federal judge sided with the woman in August after Allen stopped responding in court, but the judge has not determined how much Allen will have to pay.
Allen has denied the allegations in both cases.
Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at [email protected].
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.tennessean.com ’
