‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ star Kandi Burruss suing ex-costar Kim Zolciak for ‘Tardy for the Party’ royalties

Grammy winning singer/songwriter Kandi Burruss is suing former Real Housewives of Atlanta castmate Kim Zolciak for unpaid royalties from the 2009 dance track “Tardy for the Party.”

According to Access Atlanta Burruss filed a joint lawsuit with songwriter Rodney Richard. The two co-wrote “Tardy for the Party," which allegedly sold 102,000 copies on iTunes. Burruss and Richard are seeking “damages for copyright infringement due to Defendant’s unauthorized and unlawful licensing, distribution, and sale of Plaintiffs’ creative works.”

The feud between the two housewives has been escalating since season 3 of RHOA when Burruss first agreed to help Zolciak by writing and producing a debut single for her. Viewers watched as a patient Burruss adjusted Zolciak’s husky, off-key vocals during free studio sessions and heard secondhand criticisms about the track that was still in progress.

With Burruss’ guidance, Zolciak gained confidence in her singing and performing abilities and “Tardy for the Party” took off as a hit dance single.

Burruss first brought up her grievance with Zolciak at the season 3 reunion when she tearfully explained the uneven distribution of royalties. At the time, Burruss estimated that the song made “at least” $80,000-$100,000 but all she saw of it was $3,000-$4,000. She claims she had a verbal agreement that the money would be split evenly.

The issue remained unresolved until Burruss finally filed a lawsuit Tuesday for reparations. Zolciak has not been quiet about the impending lawsuit. Yahoo! reports that she took to Twitter saying: “Kandi tried to pull the song down in Dec on iTunes but after I showed documents and proved points song was immediately put back up.”

Access Atlanta further reported that fellow housewife Phaedra Parks will serve as Burruss’ attorney. With three castmates now ensnared in a legal battle, the season 5 reunion special, which is reportedly taping this week, should be interesting.