Photo Credit: Rita Ora by Firdaus Latif / CC by 2.0
Rita Ora’s former manager sues her for over £3 million in allegedly missing tour and television earnings and contract term violations.
Sarah Stennett, Rita Ora’s former manager who signed her back in 2009 when she first hit the scene, is suing the singer for around £3.2 million ($4.2 million)—money allegedly owed from Ora’s tours and television work. Court documents claim that Ora violated contract terms by failing to pay Stennett and her firm, FAE Ventures, their cut of her earnings.
According to The Sun, the largest portion of the alleged underpayments is around £1.7 million, which the firm claims covers “impermissible deductions” for professional services such as advertising, accounting, and insurance. The firm claims that another £1.1 million consists of unreported tour income during Ora’s Phoenix World Tour between 2019 and 2020.
Documents claim that payments “failed to take account of certain touring income which the defendant had received (or which was received on her behalf) during that period.” Stennett’s team also alleges that Ora wasn’t wholly honest about her income from when she was a judge on the reality competition show “The Masked Singer” and that the firm is owed more money from that.
“Sarah and her firm want what they believe is due,” a source told The Sun. “It’s sad it has had to come to this.”
Rita Ora has not yet filed a defense claim, and her team did not respond to media requests for comment.
After years with Stennett and FAE Ventures, Ora parted ways with the firm in 2024 and signed with Melissa Ruderman at Range Media Partners. The artist is expected to release a new album in 2027 and is also working on several upcoming film projects, including Viqueens, Voltron, and Honeymoon with Harry.
The 35-year-old Ora signed with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in 2008 and rose to prominence when she was featured on DJ Fresh’s 2012 single, “Hot Right Now.” She released her debut studio album that same year. In 2014, she featured on Iggy Azalea’s “Black Widow,” which was a major U.S. breakthrough for the singer. The following year, she was named an honorary ambassador of her native Kosovo.