-Avier Wanjou-Brass-
Cousins!
The new inductee into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, Tina Turner, is not playing at all!
According to Vibe, Dorothea “CoCo” Fletcher is being sued by Turner for her unofficial tribute show based in Germany, Simply The Best. Fletcher has been impersonating Turner for nearly 20 years.
The “Proud Mary” singer’s lawyer argues that Fletcher resembles Turner so much on the promotional flyer, fans have difficulty differentiating the two. Fletcher sat down with the hosts from This Morning to speak on the lawsuit.
Fletcher explains, “Personally, I have no ill feelings against the other company or Tina Turner for sure. I think this whole thing is them trying to stuff out the competition; we all want to pay tribute to Tina Turner…I never thought our tribute to her would cause such a fuss, but on the other hand, we must be doing something right!”
Last year, Turner sued the company Cofo Entertainment. The company represents Fletcher and other tribute acts that imitate Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Frank Sinatra—over the Simply The Best posters.
Turner did win the case based on the posters being misleading. Yet Turner lost the follow-up case, because the confusion did not outweigh Fletcher’s right of artistic expression. In the new lawsuit, Turner lawyer Kerstin Schmitt stated, “[Turner] would like to decide when her name and image are used for commercial purposes.”
If Turner wins, then this will drastically change the tribune act industry. Meaning impersonators will have a hard time imitating celebrities. I want to point out the fact this impersonator looks exactly like Turner. It is low-key creepy but fascinating.