DJ Spinderella is suing her former bandmates, Salt-N-Pepa for alleged unpaid wages prior to her dismissal from the legendary hip-hop group.
The unemployed DJ, who was born Deidra Roper, filed a federal lawsuit against Salt (Cheryl James) and Pepa (Sandra Denton) for back pay she earned before they fired her from the group.
Court documents obtained by The Blast alleges Salt-N-Pepa robbed Spinderella of wages during the years preceding her abrupt termination.
Spinderella, 47, says she helped launch the group in the mid-1980s to be the success they are today. But she was not the band’s original DJ.
Salt-N-Pepa (Denton and James) were nursing students at Queensborough Community College in 1985 when they were discovered by co-worker and fledgeling music producer Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor, who asked them to record a single for a class project.
The single, “The Showstoppa” became the group’s first hit record when they were originally known as “Super Nature”, along with DJ Latoya Hanson.
The band went into hiatus in the late 1990s but Spinderella, pictured right with Salt, left, and Pepa, center, continued promoting the group. She claims the group never contacted her when she learned of a compilation album being released. She says Pepa told her they would pay her $125,000 out of the album’s profits but that money never materialized.
She continues, “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.”
The documents state a VH1 show “featured only Defendants James and Denton. Plaintiff Roper was invited to appear only as a guest on several episodes of the Salt N Pepa television show for minimal compensation.”
By the mid ‘2000s Denton, James and Spinderella continued to tour and make guest appearances as Salt-N-Pepa. Spinderella says when she asked about the money she was told she was getting her full share.
Spinderella agreed to DJ a Las Vegas residency with the girls from the Fall of 2018 through the Spring of 2019. She claims her paychecks were not paid on time or regularly.
When she complained about being shortchanged she was given a notice of termination from the group’s lawyers.
Spinderella wants the group to provide an accounting of their royalties over the last decade. She is also asking for an injunction prohibiting Salt and Pepa from using her name or likeness to promote the group.
Photos by Jim Spellman/Getty Images, Dave Simpson/WireImage, Tim Roney/Getty Images
