Rihanna has sued her former money managers, claiming they took poor care of her finances and have ultimately cost her tens of millions of dollars since she hired them in 2005.
Rihanna reveals she’s currently undergoing a costly audit by the IRS over her returns from 2008 through 2010.
Court papers say the audit is the “direct result” of negligence by the Berdon accounting firm, which was hired to manage the singer’s money after she was discovered at age 16 and embarked on her chart-topping career.
The Manhattan federal court filing also alleges that Berdon — which Rihanna fired in 2010 — defrauded her and her Tourihanna company out of untold “tens of millions of dollars in lost revenues and profits,” by hiding the true state of her finances while charging “exorbitant and excessive” commissions that exceeded her own income.
Rihanna believes that defendant Berdon LLP had no incentive to advise her to pare down the production because the company was notching 22 percent of her touring revenue—an unorthodox method of sharing in the spoils, the suit contends. Meanwhile, the “S&M” singer took in only 6 percent, she says.
Rihanna further accuses Berdon of getting lazy with her tax returns between 2008 and 2010, resulting in an ongoing audit of her income for those years. And she pins the blame on Berdon for her $6.9 million purchase in 2009 of a home that caused her major headaches, claiming she got shoddy financial advice in that corner, as well.
“Despite having earned millions of dollars in revenues during Berdon’s tenure Fenty learned that her net income after payment of expenses and exorbitant commissiones to defendant was a fraction of that amount,” the suit states.
And Rihanna has already seen her fortunes rise since dropping the New York-based firm last September, according to the lawsuit, which states that her 2011 Loud tour turned a 40 percent profit.
Berdon has not commented on the suit, which alleges breach of contract and negligence.
