Ceasar went viral this past Thanksgiving when people caught on to the ‘UNameItChallenge,’ originated by an Atlanta DJ.
DJ Suede?who remixed the catchy ‘Beans, Greens, Potatoes, Tomatoes’ hook?has now been hit with a lawsuit and Ceaser is seeking at least $5 million in?damages!
Details below…
According to Atlanta’s CBSNews46, Ceasar not only wants the video removed, she’s seeking monetary damages and feels her Christian image has been?tarnished.
Shirley Caesar, now perhaps most widely known for a 2010 sermon that sparked the “U Name It Challenge”, is suing over what her attorney said is an unauthorized use of her sermon and song.
Caesar, a Grammy-award winning gospel artist and preacher,?says the?video in question was posted by Gwinnett County’s DJ Suede, n?e Keenan Webb, in November, after the so-called #UNameItChallenge?went viral.
Her legal team is alleging the video is worth more than $5 million in losses.
Caesar’s lead attorney, James Walker, saying a judge agrees with Caesar’s claim that at least one of DJ Suede’s videos needed to be taken down.
Walker said the judge decided the video, which is linked below, and its several images of alcohol “violate the brand, image and name of a Christian pastor”, referring to Caesar.
Former TV Judge Glenda Hatchett, now a high-profile Atlanta-area attorney, is working with Walker’s office on the case, and she alleges the song jeopardized a deal her client, Caesar, was working on with famed rapper Snoop Dogg, also known as Snoop Lion. They said the proceeds from that deal would have gone to help the hungry.
“DJ Suede and his management were in conversations with her lawyer. They didn’t reach an agreement and they put it out anyway,” Hatchett said.
VIDEO: DJ Suede The Remix God – You Name It! (Official Video) (#UNameItChallenge)
The version made by Snoop, also posted below was a clean version made in the midst of the craze as well. Walker said the goal of Snoop’s?video was to send a message that Ceasar deserved respect and was more than just a meme.
VIDEO: Snoop Dogg – U Name It Holiday Anthem ft. Shirley Caesar , DJ Battlecat (Official Video) HD
“Snoop did his clean?version to send the message that ‘this is Shirley Caesar’, We need to honor her,'” he said.
Caesar’s legal team also recently?filed a contempt order against Keenan Webb (aka DJ Suede), Jullian Boothe and Empire Distribution after they failed to take the video down.
Here’s the thing, even if they take that video down, it’s already been replicated a gazillion times. ? This case will be interesting, to say the least.
Here’s the original sermon that started it all…
VIDEO: Hold My Mule – Shirley Ceasar (2010)