Bad Bunny ex seeking $40 million for ‘unauthorized’ use of voice note

Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny performs during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 5, 2023. A former girlfriend of Bad Bunny has filed a $40-million lawsuit against the Puerto Rican megastar, alleging he used a recording of her voice in several songs without permission. VALERIE MACON / AFP

MIAMI, United States—A former girlfriend of Bad Bunny has filed a $40-million lawsuit against the Puerto Rican megastar, alleging he used a recording of her voice in several songs without permission.

Carliz De La Cruz Hernandez, who dated Bad Bunny from 2011 to 2016, filed the lawsuit at a Puerto Rican court in San Juan earlier this month, though the outlet Noticel first reported it just this week.

In 2015, before Bad Bunny had skyrocketed to global fame, she recorded a voice note for him saying the phrase “Bad Bunny, baby,” court documents say.

She alleges that the singer, born Benito Martinez Ocasio, used the recording shortly thereafter without authorization, in the introduction of the song “Pa Ti” and a few years later in “Dos Mil 2016,” a track off his latest blockbuster album “Un Verano Sin Ti.”

For that most recent release, the artist’s team sent contracts seeking consent to use De La Cruz’s voice, one day before the album release, according to the lawsuit.

But the documents say representatives did not wait for a response before putting out the record.

“Since then, thousands of people have commented directly on Carliz’s social media networks, as well as every time she goes to a public place, about the ‘Bad Bunny, baby,” says the lawsuit.

“This has caused, and is currently causing De La Cruz to feel worried, anguished, intimidated, overwhelmed and anxious.”  /ra

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