Rapper Trey Songz Sued for Stealing Reality Star's Catchphrase

Trey Songz (Reuters)

A reality TV star filed suit against a rapper in New York Monday over a catchphrase -- seeking to protect his right to yell “YUUUP!”

Dave “The Mogul” Hester of “Storage Wars” says he got a “cease and desist” letter from rapper Trey Songz’ lawyer demanding that Hester stop uttering the word during the show’s auctions of seized goods.

Songz -- real name Tremaine Neverson -- also told Hester to stop slapping “YUUUP!” on T-shirts and other merchandise.

According to Hester’s Manhattan federal court filing, Songz claims to have used "YUUUP!" as his “signature sound” since at least 2009.

Hester, however, argues that Songz’ version “resembles an animal-like or non-human squeal which begins with a distinct ‘yeeee’ sound before finishing with a squeal-like ‘uuuup’ sound.”

That’s “distinct and different from Hester’s more monosyllabic sounding guttural auction bidding phrase ... which is meant to convey the meaning of ‘yes,’” court papers say.

Hester’s suit seeks unspecified damages and a court order barring Songz from “interfering” with his use of “YUUUP!” which Hester trademarked in September.