Rapper Trey Songz Sued for Stealing Reality Star's Catchphrase
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hester’s suit seeks unspecified damages and a court order barring Songz from “interfering” with his use of “YUUUP!” which Hester trademarked in September.