Was Pebbles Settling Her Defamation Lawsuit Against Viacom Over TLC Television Movie A Good Idea?

August 30. 2018

Pebbles

R&B singer and music manager, Perri “Pebbles” Reid settled her lawsuit against Viacom over their network VH1 producing the movie “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story.” The film portrayed Pebbles in a bad light as a scheming, thieving manager, who conned the R&B trio out of millions of dollars.

Pebbles sued for $40,000,000 in a defamation lawsuit. However, they settled the case a few days ago before it headed to trial. Pebbles and her supporters on social networking see it as a victory. However, those supporting TLC on social networking are not acknowledging it, stating things such as she robbed TLC twice in obtaining an undisclosed financial settlement from the biopic.

TLC's television movie "CrazySexyCool"

The problem is a settlement is not an admission of guilty. Settlements state this in the text of the legal document. VH1 have not altered the TV movie. They even aired it again the day after the settlement was announced. A settlement is a mechanism to avoid going to trial, especially in a case where the aggrieved plaintiff demanded a significant sum of money. The reason being the defendant could risk going to trial and the jury awarding a massive sum in the plaintiff’s favor. And Pebbles' attorney was able to cite in court documents and depositions 15 lies in the movie, even some having to do with music recording contracts, which is easily provable. However, a settlement simply means the case was mutually ended.

In short, the air is not cleared. TLC did get the standard type of contract new artists get. Even the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC admitted that in a "Behind The Music" documentary for VH1 that preceded “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story.” Pebbles should have stuck it out in court and have it become case law. Settlements are not used as case law. It’s a private legal agreement to terminate further legal action. Pebbles also should have written a book about what happened (as I stated years ago on this site) and included contracts, checks and other supporting documents to illustrate what transpired.

TLC's Chilli (left) and Tionne (right)

At the end of the day record labels do not pay a lot of money to most recording artists. You have to sell millions of copies of an album before you get a decent check out of most labels and even that can take a while. Labels expect you to do sponsored tours and endorsements to make money to fill out your income. They’re just giving you the chance to become a star and potentially become rich from other avenues associated with fame. The music industry in America is also in the toilet right now due to poor sales, making it even more difficult for labels and artists to earn money (hence music streaming).

Side Bar: you know what's ironic, TLC tried to destroy Pebbles with this biopic, but she ended up making more money off it than they did due to the lawsuit and settlement. A case for $40,000,000 that was headed to trial was not going to be settled cheaply. 

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