Bad Bunny sued for €3.706 million by ex-girlfriend

Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny reportedly is facing a €3.706 million ($40 million) lawsuit from ex-girlfriend Carliz De La Cruz Hernández. According to the lawsuit, a voice recording of her saying "Bad Bunny, baby" was used in his tracks "Pa Ti" and "Dos Mil 16" without her permission.

"Pa Ti" has more than 358 million views on YouTube at the time of writing, while "Dos Mil 16" has been watched more than 63 million times. For three years, Bad Bunny was also the most streamed global artist on Spotify.

The lawsuit was filed early this month and stated that De La Cruz did not give her ex-boyfriend permission to use her voice and the phrase she came up with.

Bad Bunny and Carliz's relationship

NotiCel, a Puerto Rico news site, first reported that De La Cruz Hernández and Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, first became a couple in 2011. They studied together at the University of Puerto Rico and worked together at a grocery store in the town of Arecibo.

The lawsuit detailed that during their early years as a couple, Bad Bunny would come to Carliz for help in his songs and rhythms and valued her opinion in creating his music. Carliz was also reportedly in charge of scheduling Bad Bunny's gigs and handling financial matters such as invoices and contracts.

On January 1, 2016, Bad Bunny proposed to her. However, their relationship ended when record label Rimas Music signed Bad Bunny, and Carliz was accepted into the University of Puerto Rico's law school. Although the pair got back together in 2017, they split shortly after.

Carliz was offered €1,853 for her voice memo

In May 2022, a representative of Bad Bunny reportedly called Carliz and offered her €1,853 ($2,000) to buy a specific voice memo she recorded several years back when they were still together in 2015. Carliz refused the offer.

Another representative, this time from Rimas Music, also offered to buy the same voice recording to make use of it in Bad Bunny's album "Un Verano Sin Ti," however, no agreement regarding compensation was reached. De La Cruz Hernández firmly contests that her voice memo was used without her consent.

Further reports by Pitchfork and NotiCel highlighted that the lawsuit also details how De La Cruz's voice recording has been utilised by Bad Bunny for promotional content and in concerts around the world. The same recording has also been featured on television, radio, social media and musical platforms, as well as in the numerous versions of the songs.

According to reports, the lawsuit states that "thousands of people" have commented directly on Carliz's social media networks, even when she is out in public places, asking her about Bad Bunny and the infamous voice recording. This has reportedly caused De La Cruz to feel "worried, frantic, intimidated, overwhelmed and anxious".

In other music-related news, Taylor Swift's highly anticipated "The Eras Tour" kicked off at the State Farm Stadium on March 17. Mayor Jerry P. Weiers announced that Glendale, Arizona was temporarily Swift City renamed in her honour.

During the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift were among the show's most-awarded artists, with Bad Bunny scoring the coveted title of MTV's artist of the year and Swift winning the night's top prize of the music video of the year for her 10-minute-long film "All Too Well."

Furthermore, given the growing popularity of AI worldwide, which has now even found its way into the audio streaming service, Spotify is using one of its newest acquisitions, Sonantic, to further elevate its listeners' experience. Although, on a curious note, Spotify reported that fans spent over 25 per cent of their time on the platform listening to DJs.

Zian Sultan, Spotify's Vice President of Personalisation, boasted, "Personalisation is at the heart of what we do. When we ask our listeners what they like most about Spotify, more than 81 per cent cite our personalisation."