As many of us know from first-hand experience, every now and then there’s some family drama that gets stirred up amongst loved ones. And unfortunately for the Isley Brothers, the pot has just officially been stirred.
Original Isley Brothers member, Rudolph Isley, has just hit his brother, Ronald Isley…claiming Ronald stabbed him in the back on the business end.
Rudolph says he’s the co-owner of the Isley Brothers trademark, and that any business involving their brand must first have his approval; as well as Ronald’s approval– who apparently also co-owns the trademark. In Rudolph’s lawsuit, he claims Ronald sidestepped his bro’ and instead is sneakily making major business decisions without Rudolph…in turn, reportedly stackin’ all the profits.
Via TMZ: According to a new lawsuit…Rudolph is suing Ronald over the rights to “The Isley Brothers” trademark … he says Ronald applied and got approval for the trademark in his own name and is taking all the profits.
Rudolph says he and Ronald are supposed to split all profits from the band 50/50 … claiming they’ve each had 50% ownership in the band since their brother O’Kelly died way back in 1986 … but Rudolph claims Ronald recently went rogue.
In the docs, Rudolph claims Ronald applied for and was granted the exclusive rights to “The Isley Brothers” for use on “visual recordings and audiovisual recordings featuring music and animation” back in August … but Rudolph says Ronald needs his approval to cut such a deal.
In addition to the aforementioned issues, Rudoplh is also claiming that prior to Ronald filing for “exclusive” ownership of their trademark in August 2022, Ronald had also filed to put the ownership in his name in November 2021, but he says they were still splitting the Isley Brothers profits 50/50, from several major business transactions– including a major multi-million dollar publishing deal. But Rudolph says now that Ronald has gone behind his back to gain “exclusive” ownership, he is requesting that a judge order an updated audit on all profits he claims Ronald has stacked ever since the trademark change.
There’s more…Rudoplh is also asking the court to re-honor the co-ownership of the Isley Brother trademark, which he says lists both he and Ronald as the owners. He’s demanding that Ronald run him his HALF of all Isley Brothers’ profits that Ronald has supposedly racked up after ‘secretly’ changing the trademark ownership solely to his name only.
Not sure exactly how many millions are at stake, but hopefully Rudolph and Ronald Isley can get this situation straightened out quickly. Rudolph, Ronald, and Ernie Isley are the last living members of their iconic group, and they’re not getting any younger. So, it would be a shame to let this beef linger any longer than necessary…for the sake of their fam,’ and their legacy. But I get it…sometimes when it comes to mixing family and business, that feat is far easier said, than done.
