Legendary R&B crooner Jeffrey Osborne is the defendant in a unique lawsuit by two African American women. They claim that the Black singer discriminated against them and left them “humiliated” and “emotionally disturbed” during a concert.
Danielle Buchanan and Maneva Currie filed a complaint in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County, contending that Osborne favored a White woman to sing with him at the Greek Theater in L.A.
According to the legal documents obtained by People magazine, the two Black women were called up to the stage by the singer’s crew to help sing one of Osborne’s classic cuts, “You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song).” But once they got up on stage on May 6th, 2023, the women claimed that Osborne barked into the microphone, “I want a White person.”
Buchanan said she was “smiling and ready” to sing when Osborne’s biting words deflated her soul. The crew member who brought her up to sing had now taken her mic away. Buchanan recounted leaving the stage feeling “shocked, embarrassed, and humiliated” while her friend Currie felt the same way.
The publication reports the women claim that Osborne “intentionally inflicted emotional distress” on them, and that the Greek Theater exemplified negligence and violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, “which provides protection from discrimination by all business establishments in California.”
The 2 Black women seek sizable compensation from Jeffrey Osborne
The two women went on to say in the legal docs that Osborne’s words and actions ruined the concert experience for both of them.
“[Buchanan and Currie] left the concert emotionally disturbed,” the complaint read. “Based on the public humiliation, [they] were afraid to engage socially in their lives for months and eventually as a result of the pain and suffering, they had to seek psychotherapy.”
The woman said their mortification was exacerbated once they returned to their seats. Fellow concertgoers sitting in proximity to them spoke about Osborne’s “discriminatory behavior,” which made them feel “even more emotionally disturbed.”
As a result of their allegedly traumatic experience, the two women demand a jury trial and $2 million in punitive damages. Neither the women’s attorney nor Osborne have publicly remarked on the lawsuit.
