Kirk Franklin, Manager, Record Co. Sued By 'The Family' Group Members For $1 Million

Jet, May 29, 2000

Gospel music legend Kirk Franklin, along with his manager and record company, was recently sued for $1 million on charges of fraud and conflict of interest.

In a lawsuit which recently was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, four of the six members of the Family, the group that sang and toured with him, alleged that Franklin knowingly conspired with his manager Gerald Wright to create an album project that allowed him (Franklin) to keep royalties and not share them with the Family.

Franklin is also being sued for trade name infringement for allegedly using the Family's name in promoting a fast-food franchise that he owns in Dallas.

"Their name was used to promote a Church's Chicken outlet in Dallas and they received no compensation. Their name was used without their permission," said Reginald K. Brown, the Los Angeles-based attorney representing the Family members.

Wright also managed the Family and is being sued for conflict of interest. Brown said, "They (Franklin and the Family) were not one entity. Kirk Franklin had his own contract with Gospo Centric Records and the Family had their own."

The suit charges that Wright, acting on Franklin's behalf, pushed the Family into signing a contract where they would receive payment but no royalties for what they were told would be the soundtrack for the hit film Amistad. "They were lied to and fooled into signing these releases by Wright who was acting on behalf of Franklin," Brown alleged. "They were told that Steven Spielberg (Amistad's director) didn't like it. The tracks ended up on the Nu Nation project which is unquestionably a Family album. They are entitled to royalties under their contract."

Franklin has recorded numerous hit albums, both with the Family and God's Property. Franklin's publicist said Franklin had no comment to make about the lawsuit.