Bad Bunny’s days as Benito Martínez Ocasio may cost him about $40 million. An ex-girlfriend from earlier than the worldwide fame has filed a lawsuit towards the Puerto Rican rapper for repeatedly utilizing a voice recording she made years in the past.
Carliz De La Cruz Hernández is the voice behind the well-known audio, “Bad Bunny, baby.”
According to AP News, Hernández filed the multi-million-dollar lawsuit in Puerto Rico in March, alleging her voice and the phrase are getting used with out her consent.
Noticel, an area media outlet, first broke the story. Carliz can be suing Benito’s supervisor, Noah Kamil Assad Byrne.
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The rapper used Carliz’s voice recording within the intros of two songs and their respective music movies. Bad Bunny launched the primary music, Pa Ti, in December 2016 and the second, Dos Mil 16, in May 2022. On YouTube alone, the video for the 2016 monitor has over 358 million views, whereas the 2022 monitor’s video has over 63 million views.
Additionally, Hernández claims Bad Bunny has used the recording in “songs, records, promotions, worldwide concerts, television, radio, social media, and musical platforms,” per AP.
Given the publicity, the go well with says “thousands of people” have approached Hernández publicly and by way of social media concerning the phrase. She says the eye has introduced on psychological anguish.
The lawsuit states:
“Since then, thousands of people have commented directly on CArliz’s social media networks, as well as every time she goes to a public place, about the ‘Bad Bunny, baby.’ This has caused, and currently causes, that De La Cruz feels worried, anguished, intimidated, overwhelmed, and anxious.”
Before The Lawsuit: Why Bad Bunny’s Ex Recorded ‘Bad Bunny Baby’
Benito and Carliz reportedly started courting in 2011 earlier than attending the University of Puerto Rico in Arecibo. During their time as college students and staff at an area grocery retailer, Benito’s Bad Bunny stardom was brewing.
While he created songs and rhythms, Hernández was in command of scheduling gigs and overseeing invoices and contracts. He usually, per the lawsuit, sought his then-girlfriend’s ideas on his music.
By 2015, the pair was nonetheless going sturdy, and the “Bad Bunny Baby” phrase took place. Within the identical yr, Bad Bunny requested Hernández to document the phrase, which she did inside a pal’s toilet and despatched to her then-boyfriend.
LA INSPIRACIÓN DE BENITO. Este hilo es con fin de entrener y para hablar sobre una persona que ha sido fuente de inspiración para las letras de Benito, y como él la sigue recordando en sus canciones. Carliz, su exnovia. pic.twitter.com/mvMyFu9zij
— v (@vicentetrujllo) July 23, 2019
Their love continued to flourish, with Bunny asking Hernández to marry him on January 1, 2016. Then, life occurred. Benito signed with Rimas Entertainment in April 2016, and Carliz obtained an acceptance into the University of Puerto Rico’s legislation college. By May 2016, she known as off their marriage ceremony, deliberate for July 2016, and ended the connection.
Though they reconciled in 2017, it didn’t final lengthy. But then, a rep for Bad Bunny contacted Carliz in May 2022 with a proposal to purchase the recording of Carliz’s voice for $2,000.
At the time, Hernández says she declined the provide however later spoke to somebody from Rimas Entertainment, who additionally supplied to purchase the recording. They deliberate to incorporate it in Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti album, launched in May 2022. But, finally, Bad Bunny’s rep, his label, and Carliz by no means settled on a deal.
Yet, her voice recording was nonetheless used within the Dos Mil 16 monitor and promotional content material. As talked about, Hernández is in search of $40 million for utilizing the recording with out her consent.
Meanwhile, Bad Bunny seems to have moved on from their failed relationship. Paparazzi have noticed the rapper in no less than two group outings with Kendall Jenner, together with images of them showing to share a kiss.