Madonna collaborator sued over $10m worth of royalties

New York: The Spirit One Music group has sued John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez, one of Madonna’s longtime co-writers, for keeping 10 million dollars worth of royalties for the superstar’s 1983 hit ‘Holiday’ away from them.

According to documents filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Benitez and Spirit were to split royalties for the song, still popular after nearly 30 years, and Benitez was in charge of distributing the royalties between the two, reports a daily. But the suit claims Benitez "repeatedly and unrepentantly misstated and underreported revenues due to its joint owner, Spirit," and "repeatedly, systematically and intentionally made delinquent and tardy payments" to Spirit. The suit says Benitez has "concocted flimsy, bad-faith excuses for its inaccuracy." Spirit wants 10 million dollars allegedly unpaid royalties, said Spirit’s lawyer, Wallace Collins. However, reps for Benitez did not comment on the report. ANI