Summary: Rihanna is being sued by the wife of her former bodyguard.
Rihanna may need an umbrella to shield herself from her latest legal storm. The 29-year-old superstar is being sued by the wife of her former bodyguard, and the wife is seeking financial losses after the man was fired from his job.
Geoff Keating, 38, was the former chief of Rihanna’s security team, and he was responsible for her safety during her Diamonds World Tour in 2013. Keating’s wife claims that Keating treated the Bajan singer like she was family before he was inexplicably let go.
After the termination, Keating and his wife Dana Kavanagh sued Rihanna for defamation. The reason? Rihanna allegedly sent the pair a scathing email filled with false statements, and the married couple of four said that Keating suffered emotional distress from the letter’s content. However, they may not have understood that defamation only occurs if someone’s reputation is damaged, which is a hard task to do in one-on-one communication, and their case was dropped in 2015.
But that didn’t stop the couple from wanting a payout from Rihanna, who is reportedly worth $230 million according to Celebrity Net Worth. The Irish Mirror reported that Kavanagh filed a complaint in Dublin High Court, seeking damages and loss of earnings from her husband’s abrupt and allegedly wrongful termination.
Rihanna’s bodyguard Geoff Keating said to The Irish Mirror that his wife’s suing was justified because, “You wouldn’t believe half of it, unless I showed you. It’s crazy stuff. She was like part of the family.”
Rihanna has yet to release a statement on the lawsuit, but she is represented by the law firm Matheson. According to The Irish Mirror, she is not expected to appear in Dublin court.
Rihanna, real name Rihanna Robyn Fenty, was born in Barbados and entered the American music industry in 2003. With mentorship from Jay-Z, she rose to fame in 2005 with the album Music of the Sun, and she has subsequently released hit after hit, including Umbrella, Work, Diamonds, and We Found Love.
Rihanna’s personal life has been a dramatic roller coaster for her fans. She famously dated volatile singer Chris Brown, and he physically abused her after the Grammy Awards in 2009. Since then, she has been linked to stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Drake, and most recently Saudi billionaire Hassan Jameel, who was previously linked to supermodel Naomi Campbell.
The case Kavanagh vs. Fenty will appear in Dublin on Monday.
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