Shakira asks judge to toss $250M lawsuit
Shakira said her ex-boyfriend's lawsuit is without merit, that he doesn't deserve credit for her career success.
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Shakira owes her success to nobody but herself, and certainly not her ex-boyfriend.
At least that's what the Colombian pop star and "The Voice" said in papers filed, asking a Manhattan Supreme Court to dismiss Antonio de la Ra's $250 million lawsuit against her.
The pair began dating in 2000 and split in 2010, although de la Ra, a lawyer, continued to work as her business manager until October 2011.
In the lawsuit, de la Ra claims he shaped the "Shakira brand," taking credit for two of the singer's biggest hits, "Hips Don't Lie" and "Waka Waka."
When Shakira met de la Ra, "[she] was already a well-known and recognized artist, and [her] international career was established and solid," the affidavit, obtained by the New York Daily News, said.
She also said he was just "one of [her] numerous advisers," who got his role in her career in 2005 because he was unemployed.
When de la Ra's father, Fernando de la Ra, "was force! d to resign as president of Argentina at the end of 2001, plaintiff, for his own safety, became self-exiled from Argentina and he became unemployed," the filing said.
For his part, de la Ra claims he convinced Shakira to record "Hips Don't Lie" and inspired "Waka Waka," orchestrated a $300 million deal with Live Nation in 2008. He claims she only dumped him as a business partner after she began dating Gerard Piqu, with whom she now has a son.
De la Ra's suit includes filings in New York, California, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.
Shakira has in turn filed a lawsuit against against her ex in the Bahamas for misappropriating $3 million. Her lawyers argue de la Ra's case has no standing because their business partnership was never in writing.
Bill Reid, lawyer for de la Ra, said Shakira is only trying to avoid the case.
We just want to have our day in court and its apparent that they dont," Reid said.
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