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Ex-Manager Sues Macy Gray for Commissions

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Rhythm and blues singer-songwriter Macy Gray owes her former manager $166,248 in commissions, the company claims in court.

Suited 'N Booted dba Stampede Management sued Gray and her touring company Happy Mel Boopy Touring, on Dec. 22 in Superior Court.

Gray (Natalie Renee Barry McIntyre), 48, has released six studio albums and received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one in 2001 for her second single, "I Try." She has appeared in many films, including "Spider-Man," "Lackawanna Blues," and "For Colored Girls."

Stampede Management represents several R&B, rap, and jazz artists, including Snoop Dogg, Far East Movement, Theotis Beasley, and Shvona Lavette, according to its Internet home page.

Stampede says in its lawsuit that Gray hired it as her manager in March 2013 with the understanding she would pay a commission of 20 percent of her gross income until she paid off the initial $26,873 fee, and 15 percent commission after that.

The management agreement established a payment system for commissions from any intellectual property Gray created during the agreement up to four years after it ended, and for any intellectual property she created before the agreement but which was "improved during the term" of the agreement, the complaint states.

To terminate the agreement, Gray had to give 30 days notice to Stampede to enable it to "cure any alleged breaches," according to the complaint.

Gray fired Stampede by letter in October 2014, then immediately stopped sending financial information to it so it could calculate its commissions, the complaint states.

Stampede claims the letter was invalid because it did not give it 30 days notice, and that Gray owes at least $166,248 under the terms of the agreement

Gray did not immediately return emailed requests for comment sent Wednesday morning.

Stampede seeks a declaration that Gray and Happy Mel "materially breached and repudiated the management agreement," and it wants to see the books.

It also seeks punitive damages for breach of contract, fraud and conversion

It is represented by Arnold Peter of Beverly Hills, who did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

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