Soul icon Jeffrey Osborne of L.T.D. and solo fame is being sued by two concertgoers for embarrassment that allegedly led to psycho-therapy.
via: People
Danielle Buchanan and Maneva Currie filed a complaint in the Superior Court of California on Tuesday against the “On the Wings of Love” singer, 75, and the Greek Theater, the venue where he performed.
They claimed Osborne intentionally inflicted emotional distress on them, and that the Greek Theater displayed negligence and violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which provides protection from discrimination by all business establishments in California.
The two women claim that they attended one of Osborne’s concerts on May 6, 2023 at the Greek Theater when the singer requested that his team find someone in the audience to help him sing his 1986 hit “You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song).”
The team ultimately selected Buchanan to sing “Can you woo woo woo?” on the microphone with the “camera directed” at her, which broadcast her face to the two large screens on either side of the stage, according to the complaint obtained by PEOPLE.
Buchanan was “smiling and ready” to sing on camera, and her friend Currie had been recording the moment on her phone when they allege Osborne told the audience and his team, “I want a White person.”
Buchanan claimed she had been “shocked, embarrassed and humiliated” by Osborne’s words and tried to make light of the situation by announcing on the mic, “I’m White.” However, his team took the mic away and searched for someone else to give it to. Currie claimed that she had also been “embarrassed and humiliated” by the situation.
In the complaint, the women said other audience members around them made comments to them about Osborne’s “discriminatory behavior” which left them “even more emotionally disturbed,” and they were unable to “enjoy” the rest of the concert.
Buchanan said in the filing she called the Greek Theater and filed a verbal complaint after the concert, but she claimed she didn’t receive a response from the venue.
“[Buchanan and Currie] left the concert emotionally disturbed,” the complaint read. “Based on the public humiliation, [they] were afraid to engage socially in their lives for months and eventually as a result of the pain and suffering, they had to seek psycho-therapy.”
The filing continued, “As a result of Osborne’s negligent and discriminatory behavior, he has caused [the plaintiffs] damages.”
The women are asking for punitive damages of more than $2 million and a jury trial.
Buchanan and Currie’s attorneys and Osborne’s representatives did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
