Luke Combs accidentally sued a single mom for $250,000. Now, he's sending her money instead.
Popular artists and sportspersons have a lot of money riding on their brand image, and this is often exploited by scammers who sell fake concert tickets as well as counterfeit merchandise. While most are known to take harsh legal action against such practices, an American country singer recently dropped a $250,000 lawsuit against a disabled woman who reportedly sold unauthorized merchandise with his face on it. When Luke Combs' legal team decided to sue the company selling the fake merchandise, the Florida woman Nicol Harness got caught up in the whole fiasco.
According to a news report, she had sold around 18 tumblers she had made with his name and face for $20 each, collecting a total of $360. However, after the singer realized that the woman was in trouble he sued the companies but asked his lawyers to remove her name from the lawsuit and even sent her another $11,000.
He also said in an Instagram video that he would start selling his tumblers and would pay Miss Harness' medical bills since she is suffering from heart disease and was admitted to a hospital recently. The singer added that he would fly her and her family to an upcoming concert so that he could meet her. Combs further said that he only intended to go after the big companies and not fans running small businesses on the side. Many of the 45 other sellers sued appear to be large firms in Asia according to the official court filings.
As per U.S. copyright laws, sellers of unauthorized goods can be sued and the court can also have their assets seized. "This is not something that I would ever do. This is not the kind of person I am. I'm not greedy in any way, shape or form. Money is the last thing on my mind. I promise you guys that," Combs said.
Miss Harness' story emerged after a story by a Tampa TV station went viral. She told the station that she was informed about the lawsuit via email that went to her junk mail folder and she never saw it. When she didn't respond in the next 30 days, the judge ordered her to pay $250,000. She then realized that she had been sued when Amazon obeyed the judge's order and froze $5,500 that she had in her account for possible seizure, which barred her from paying her bills.
Harness, who is a big fan of the singer, started selling the tumblers after she went to one of his concerts. "It's very stressful," Ms Harness told the station. "I didn't mean any harm to Luke Combs. I quit selling the tumbler. I pulled it down. I just don't understand. This is not something I meant to go wrong like this. I just want to get back to my day-to-day life," via Sky News.
Combs later took to Instagram and shared that he had no idea about this. "I was so apologetic in talking with her. It just makes me sick, honestly, that this would happen, especially at the holidays. I can't imagine being in her shoes," Combs said.
Miss Harness later told the station that Combs was a very nice guy indeed and that she still couldn't believe that he had called her.
