The Kimye cover of Vogue has brought more attention than its publisher ever imagined. The latest controversy with the cover is that singer Ricky Spicer has sued the magazine for using his voice in the cover shoot video without his permission.
According to the New York Daily News, Spicer is suing Vogue’s publisher, Conde Nast Entertainment, for the behind-the-scenes video from the photo shoot, featuring Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, with a sample of his voice in the background.
Papers have been filed in Manhattan Supreme Court in which Spicer says he can be heard five different times as Kanye’s hit single, “Bound 2,” plays in the background. The song accompanies a video of Kardashian in a white gown with their baby girl, North West. The lawsuit says that, “Mr. Spicer’s voice is used substantially throughout the video, comprising approximately 44 percent of the vocals.”
Conde Nast did not get the singer's permission to use his voice or give him any money, so he’s asking for “unspecified damages.” The New York Post reports that last December, Spicer sued Kanye, claiming he used one of his songs for this track on his album Yeezus. Now that the track is featured in a behind-the-scenes video, he has taken legal action once again.
Spicer claimed that his voice was “sampled exactly as it was recorded.” He recorded these lyrics in 1970, when he was just 12 years old and the lead singer of the one-hit-wonder group “The Ponderosa Twins Plus One.” People claim he was a Michael Jackson wannabe, and he was shocked when he heard his voice in Kanye’s “Bound 2.”
A rep for Vogue has not yet responded to requests for comment.