Lady GaGa Slapped With Million Dollars Lawsuit by Alleged Ex

Thu, 18 March 2010 23:55:21 ET

Claiming he helped to turn the dance queen into who she is right now, songwriter-producer Rob Fusari has filed a 30 million dollar lawsuit in New York City.

For being who she is right now, Lady GaGa has found herself in a face of a legal woe against a self-professed former boyfriend. A New Jersey-based songwriter and music producer by the name of Rob Fusari has sued the 23-year-old for $30 million dollars, claiming that he has the credit for "discovering" her and creating her stage name.

In his lawsuit filed on Wednesday, March 17 in New York Superior Court, Fusari recalled that he was introduced to GaGa, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, in 2006 by a friend who knew he was looking for a female rocker with "garage band chops." Although he initially thought "was worried that he had made a mistake," he realized she had star potential after hearing her play in his studio.

The producer who worked on Will Smith's "Wild, Wild West" and Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious" contended he then convinced her to add dance beats to her songs as they co-wrote songs such as "Paparazzi" and "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich". He additionally claimed that he was the one who came out with her unique stage name.

The state court documents obtained by E! News detailed on the day Fusari allegedly came out with the name. "One day when Fusari addressed a cell phone text to Germanotta under the moniker 'Radio Gaga' his cell phone's spell check converted 'Radio' to 'Lady'," the suit read. "Germanotta loved it and 'Lady Gaga' was born."

In the court documents, the relationship between the two turned romantic stating "all business is personal." But, when GaGa career soared, the romance went sour and he was denied a 20% share of song royalties agreed to in a contract. "It's an age-old story in the music business," Fusari's lawyer Robert Meloni told New York Daily News. "You become famous and you turn on the person who discovered you."

Making her big break with "Just Dance", Lady GaGa established herself in music industry with albums "The Fame and "The Fame Monster". In January, she took home two Grammys; one is Best Dance Recording for "Poker Face, and the other is Best Electronic/Dance Album for "The Fame". Her representative has declined to comment on the lawsuit issue.

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