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T-Boz of the Grammy-winning R&B trio TLC opened up about the millions the group spent to secure ownership of their name from their old manager.
Although the 2013 biopic CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story covered much of the group’s rise and struggles, it left out their fight with former manager Peri “Pebbles” Reid over the rights to their name. During an interview on The Breakfast Club, T-Boz revealed that they had to pay $1 million for each letter in “TLC” to secure ownership.
“I also don’t like when people go ‘Oh it’s just TC now,’” T-Boz said at the time. “When you worked hard for something, and you bought your name for a million dollars per letter, honey, and you worked for that name, whether she’s physically here or not, we will always be, and I will always have that name TLC because it belongs to us and we own it.”
A stunned Charlamagne asked T-Boz to confirm if they truly paid $1 million per letter to keep their group name. She confirmed, saying they spent a total of $3 million to secure all three letters.
“Honey, to buy back the name TLC,” T-Boz said.
When asked who they had to buy their name back from, T-Boz wouldn’t drop a name, only saying, “Y’all know who I’m talking about.”
The CrazySexyCool biopic touched on the group’s financial struggles, including allegations of mismanagement that led to their 1995 bankruptcy. They accused former manager Pebbles of trapping them in a shady contract that left each member with just $50,000 in 1993 and 1994, despite the massive success of CrazySexyCool. On top of it all, they had to shell out $3 million just to own the TLC name.
Pebbles responded to the biopic by filing a $40 million lawsuit against Viacom, claiming it painted her as a dishonest, money-hungry manager and damaged her reputation. The case was ultimately settled in late 2020.
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