The Pussycat Dolls band, formed by Robin Antin and whose members included former X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger, is suing the Daily Mail.
The outlet published stories in October 2017 claiming that the girl band members were abused and that the group served as a “front for a prostitution ring.”
Pussycat Dolls Inc. and Robin Antin have slapped the Daily Mail Corporation with a defamation lawsuit, alleging that the girl group/dance ensemble was falsely smeared by these reports, which also stated that Antin got the group members “hooked on drugs.”
The allegations were made by a former backup singer named Kaya Jones. Through a series of tweets, she claimed that Antin was “responsible” for their treatment and said that he was at fault for the 2014 suicide death of Simone Battle, a member of girl group G.R.L., another Antin project.
According to documents filed in New York State yesterday, Jones auditioned for the group but was rejected from a marquee position to backup vocalist. She’s described in the suit as “disgruntled.”
The band's corporate entitity and Antin are in court arguing that the Daily Mail should have known that Jones an "unreliable source," whose bias should have been evident "due to her failure to be chosen to be a member of the group and reunion."
The complaint reads: "This defamation action arises out of the intentional, reckless and malicious publication by the Daily Mail Corporation... of false and defamatory statements made by a disgruntled, unreliable and biased person looking for her fifteen minutes of fame, Kaya Jones, when the Defendants knew through their direct prior dealings with Plaintiffs, or should have known, with even the most basic check, that Ms. Jones was unreliable and her story obviously false. Instead, for pure sensationalism, and advertising money, and to grab salacious headlines to sell their product, and without caring what it meant for Plaintiffs, their business, or their reputation, the Defendants published and commented on these defamatory statements with a reckless disregard for the truth. "
