Last year Nicki Minaj admitted that she was flirting with a more minimalist look, but those experimental candy-colored wigs definitely played a major role in establishing her image as Queen Barb. Unfortunately, the stylist who created many of Nicki’s early wigs is now suing the YMCMB rapper for stealing his designs.
According to CNN, Terrence Davidson filed a $30 million lawsuit in an Atlanta district court last week, claiming that Nicki Minaj duplicated his wig designs to sell on her own website, and potentially caused him to lose money by discouraging him from exploring a reality show deal.
“I see these wigs online,” Davidson said. “People are basically duplicating what I created for Nicki Minaj.”
Davidson and Minaj began working together in 2010 and he crafted some of her major looks, including her colorful wigs in the “Super Bass” video and “Fly” with Rihanna, in addition to her wig for the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. They reportedly planned to collaborate on a joint wig line, but that didn’t work out. According to the lawsuit, in 2012, “Minaj and her agents became mum about the business ventures and took active steps to isolate Mr. Davidson and preclude him from the notoriety he deserved for his wig designs.”
In early 2012, while Davidson was still on good terms with Nicki, he explained how excited he was to work with the superstar rapper, since she was open to his wild ideas. “It was like, ‘Wow, finally, in my time someone wants to do this,” the Atlanta-based hairstylist told MTV News before the release of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.”Because I’ve been wanting to do this for years. It’s just I hadn’t met the right artist that wanted to sit down and make this work.”
“Nick’s doing it for everybody, not just women, not just female rappers but for everybody who wants to be different,” he added at the time. “Her music is so many different levels, from pop to R&B to rap. And she’s opened up a lane where it’s just hers — and nobody else can really mess with it.”
MTV News reached out to Nicki Minaj’s rep for comment on the lawsuit, but there was no response at press time.
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