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Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | Back issues
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Selena Gomez Sued by Perfume Company

(CN) - Selena Gomez blew off public appearances for her perfume collection and used a manufacturing dispute to try to back out of a licensing agreement, a fragrance company claims in court.

Adrenalina Inc. says it spent more than $2.2 million developing and marketing a line of perfumes for the actress and singer.

"Through a combination of Adrenalina's efforts in supporting the brand through activities online, mailer campaigns, and in-store brand features at Macy's 700 stores, Adrenalina succeeded in having the Selena Gomez perfume brand rank in the top 20 with Macy's during the spring/summer of 2012," the company claims in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The perfume maker says it even held a contest allowing Gomez's fans to help develop her scent.

"These activities required Adrenalina to front-load millions of dollars for marketing, tens of thousands of dollars for product development, and countless man-hours to execute such a development campaign," the lawsuit states.

But the former Disney Channel actress bailed on an appearance at Macy's in Miami, Adrenalina claims, and failed to support the fragrances in Mexico.

In March, Adrenalina claims its CEO, Ilia Lekach, received a letter from counsel at Gomez's company, July Moon Productions, stating that they were would be terminating the licensing agreement in 30 days.

They allegedly said Adrenalina "was in breach of various provisions" of the licensing agreement after its manufacturer, Victory International, sued the company in March. In that lawsuit, Victory claimed Adrenalina owed more than $1.2 million for the production of Gomez's perfumes.

Adrenalina says the manufacturing dispute does not concern Gomez or July Moon, and it "intends to vigorously defend the claims in the Victory complaint."

The perfume licensing agreement "does not permit licensor/artist to terminate the agreement based on the filing of a civil complaint against Adrenalina or based on the existence of a business dispute with the manufacturer," the lawsuit states.

Adrenalina is suing Gomez and July Moon for declaratory and injunctive relief, breach of contract, and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

It seeks a declaration that "there is no valid basis" for terminating the agreement and an injunction blocking the defendants from striking a licensing deal with other perfume companies.

It is represented by Gregory Aldisert of Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert in Santa Monica.

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