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Mariah's Lawyer Explains Virgin Buyout
01/23/2002 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Matt Ashare
(1/23/02, 5 p.m. ET) -- Mariah Carey's attorney told LAUNCH that the pop superstar received a total of $49 million in payment from Virgin Records when her deal with the label abruptly ended this week. This contradicts a statement issued by the record label's parent company, EMI, whose statement placed a value of only $28 million on the deal. Carey released only one album, Glitter, while the contract was in effect.
Carey's attorney Marshall B. Grossman told LAUNCH, "EMI and Virgin entered into an agreement with Mariah Carey, which releases Mariah Carey of any further obligations and provides for the payment to her of $28 million in addition to the $21 million that had previously been paid to, and for her benefit. A total of $49 million."
EMI issued the statement valuing the deal at $28 million without Carey's permission or knowledge--a violation of a prior agreement with the singer, according to Grossman.
Grossman continued, "As is typical in this type of arrangement, the parties agreed on the terms of a press release to be issued jointly by them in the U.K. and in the United States. They also agreed to 'no further statements by either side'...Unfortunately EMI took it upon themselves to issue a further press statement, which was in direct violation of the agreement between the parties."
Wednesday afternoon (January 23) Carey's publicist Cindi Berger and Grossman fired back with a press release of their own, which stated: "The release of EMI, independently issued by it, is in direct violation of the agreement between the parties. It is also false."
Grossman further took issue with EMI's spin on the deal. "The EMI statement...(says) 'Virgin Terminates Contract With Mariah Carey,' and that is simply not true," he told LAUNCH. When asked about possible legal action against EMI, Grossman said, "Right now we are simply trying to deal with what has occurred today, however we will explore all available options."
The actual sentence in question in the EMI press release reads: "Mariah Carey and EMI's Virgin Records announced today the amicable termination of their multi-album contract."
Grossman told LAUNCH that Carey deserves $49 million, although she released just one album on Virgin. "Given her track record and history and her status--with over 150 million albums sold--I think most of her fans would say she deserved every penny of it," he asserted. "And in the wake of EMI's conduct I suspect many of her fans would say that she should now receive more. I think that if anything the public will be outraged and should be outraged at EMI's treatment of such an American heroine."
-- Jason Gelman, New York
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