Salt-N-Pepa Blasts Spinderella Over Lawsuit, Accuses DJ Of ‘Smear Campaign’
Salt-N-Pepa has fired back at Spinderella’s lawsuit against the group, claiming that they’ve taken care of her for decades, only to have their consideration backfire.
Pepa, whose given name is Sandra Denton, and Salt, whose given name is Cheryl James, has responded to the lawsuit filed by their DJ group member. Spinderella, whose given name is Deidra Roper, accuses her groupmates of screwing her over for a very long time, according to court documents obtained by The Blast.
“After decades of friendship, Spinderella has embarked on a smear campaign, and sued her friends, based on blatantly erroneous assertions. The truth, however, is that Salt and Pepa have always tried to do right by Spinderella,” Denton and James said. “Spinderella decided to quit performing with Salt and Pepa years ago and asked to rejoin the group ‘Salt-N-Pepa’ in December 2013.”
Denton and James claim that they obliged due to nostalgia and a desire to help Spinderella. The two said they offered to pay Spin on a per-show basis to perform with the group and Spinderella agreed to the arrangement.
NEW ORLEANS, LA – JULY 07: (L-R) Sandra Denton, DJ Spinderella and Cheryl James of Salt-N-Pepa perform onstage during the 2018 Essence Festival presented By Coca-Cola – Day 2 at Louisiana Superdome on July 7, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Essence)
“Things, unfortunately, did not work out and Salt-N-Pepa spent months trying to close open issues—like how they would each refer to their shared history going forward as they each pursued respective careers—in the hope they could part as friends,” Salt and Pepa claims.
Denton and James claim that they don’t have a problem never mentioning Spin again, on one condition, that Spinderella does the same in regards to them. They also deny Spin’s accusations that they didn’t fully pay the DJ for their performances in Las Vegas. They referred to the accusations as “pure fantasy.”
A federal lawsuit was filed against Salt-N-Pepa by DJ Spinderella, earlier this year. The lawsuit stated that the trio began recording and performing as Salt-N-Pepa in the mid-1980s, and Spin claims that she assisted with catapulting the group into success.
SNP went into hiatus in the late 1990s, but Spin continued to promote the band. Spinderella claims that things got awkward with Salt-N-Pepa in the early 2000s when she found out about a compilation album being released. Pepa told Spin that they would pay the DJ $125,000, but it never happened, according to the lawsuit.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 22: DJ Spinderella of Salt-N-Pepa performs during a get-out-the-vote rally featuring former U.S. President Barack Obama at the Cox Pavilion as he campaigns for Nevada Democratic candidates on October 22, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Early voting in Clark County, Nevada began on October 20 and has recorded the highest turnout during the first two days of early voting in a midterm election. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
“By the early 2000s, the Defendants discussed with Roper an SNP reunion which would have possibly involved, among other things, a television show based on the legendary female group’s rise to stardom,” Roper continued, claiming that they promised her one-third of the profit from the album.
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 09: Recording artists Sandra Denton (L) and Cheryl James of Salt-N-Pepa perform onstage during Crystal Pepsi Summer of ’92 at Terminal 5 on August 9, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Salt and Pepa agreed to do a VH1 reality TV show “known as ‘The Salt N Pepa Show’ “, which aired with various episodes that only featured defendants James and Denton. Spin was only invited to appear as a guest on the show and for minimal compensation.
However, Spinderella continued to work with SNP over the years for touring and various other appearances. Spin said that she always asked Salt and Pepa about finances but she was always told that she was receiving her full payment.
