“Bad Bunny, baby.” Those words have appeared on a pair of the Puerto Rican singer’s songs, spoken by ex-girlfriend Carliz De La Cruz Hernández. And now, she wants $40 million for the ad-lib, saying that Bad Bunny (who is soon to headline Coachella) used her voice recording without permission. According to the Associated Press, De La Cruz has filed a lawsuit in Puerto Rico over the vocal tag, which appears on “Pa Ti” as well as “Dos Mil 16.”
In addition to the royalties she believes are due, De La Cruz also wants recompense for harassment from Bad Bunny fans. According to her lawsuit, “thousands of people have commented directly on Carliz’s social media networks, as well as every time she goes to a public place, about the ‘Bad Bunny, baby.’ This has caused and currently causes, De La Cruz [to feel] worried, anguished, intimidated, overwhelmed, and anxious.”
De La Cruz recorded the clip in 2015 while she was dating Bad Bunny at his request; she says she was also in charge of scheduling his parties and handling invoices and contracts. However, when she was accepted into law school and he was signed, they broke off their relationship. In 2022, representatives of Bad Bunny’s label, Rimas Entertainment, contacted De La Cruz to offer her $2,000 to buy the recording of her voice, but an agreement was never reached.
Obviously, Bad Bunny’s had no small amount of success since then, and with De La Cruz’s voice contributing to part of that, she wants a share.
