Andra Day and her manager of more than a decade are dramatically parting ways with a pair of dueling new lawsuits, each accusing the other of hoarding more than their fair share of royalty payments.
Day (Cassandra Monique Batie) began working with manager Jeff Evans in 2010, five years before the success of her debut Grammy-nominated album, Cheers to the Fall, and its breakout single, “Rise Up.” The two remained in business together for years, but their relationship deteriorated over a series of financial disputes that have now ended up in court.
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Evans was the first to sue, claiming in a complaint submitted on Monday (Oct. 6) in Los Angeles court that Day is refusing to honor contract provisions that entitle him to a 40% royalty on her publishing and a 20% commission on other profits.
The Evans lawsuit alleges that Day has withheld this money since 2024. He wants a judge to declare that he’s owed a cut of Day’s publishing advances from Kobalt, which supposedly have totaled $1.5 million over the last two years, as well as backend payments from her acting role in the Netflix movie The Deliverance.
“Plaintiffs are informed and believe and, based upon such information and belief, allege that plaintiffs are owed a minimum of $850,000 as of the date of the complaint,” write Evans’ lawyers Edwin McPherson and Brian Caplan.
Day, however, tells a very different story in her own lawsuit filed against Evans on Tuesday (Oct. 7). She says her original contract giving Evans 40% of her royalties was “exploitative,” and that both that agreement and her 20% commission deal expired in 2023.
According to Day, the real issue is that Evans has been “caught red-handed stealing” from her. The singer says Evan bled her dry by misappropriating a $600,000 recording fund from her label, Warner Records, and stealing more than $1 million worth of royalties on both her compositions and master recordings.
“Evans abused his role as a fiduciary to scam Day with blindless greed,” writes Day’s lawyer James Sammataro. “He siphoned so much money from Day — a quadruple-platinum hitmaker and Golden Globe Best Actress winner — that he left her facing eviction, unable to pay the monthly minimum on her credit card debt and without sufficient funds to tour.”
Day’s lawsuit says that as of this past spring, Evans had stolen at least $1.6 million from her. She claims a fuller investigation is required to untangle the “web of deceit” woven by her manager and determine exactly how much she’s owed from his various “swindling sleights.”
Sammataro declined to comment on the dueling allegations on Tuesday. Evans’ lawyers did not immediately return a request for comment.
