Songstress Toni Braxton files bankruptcy in Los Angeles

Jet, Feb 16, 1998

Songbird Toni Braxton recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in Los Angeles.

The action comes just eight weeks after Braxton filed a lawsuit against LaFace Records and its parent company, Arista Records, seeking to terminate recording contract.

Despite lucrative record sales that have generated an estimated $188 million over the past six years, Braxton's representatives say she is broke due to a substandard LaFace recording contract that pays her less than 35 cents per album sold.

Braxton is the second star on LaFace's roster to file for bankruptcy. In 1995, hip hop trio TLC filed for bankruptcy and sued LaFace, also blaming the group's financial condition on a substandard contract. The group settled the matter out of court last year for a multimillion dollar advance and currently is back in the studio working on its next LaFace release.