Chutney singer gets lawyer’s letter: ‘Raj’ versus Ken

Accidental social media sensation “Raj,” who skyrocketed to popularity thanks to a video of him being accused of cheating, has sent a pre-action protocol letter to chutney singer Kenneth Supersad, calling on him to stop performing his song De Raj Story.

Supersad told Newsday he received the letter at 10 am yesterday and found it ironic that it came two days before the Chutney Soca Monarch semifinals.

“I released the song more than two months ago. Why now?”

Supersad, who also released a video of the song, said he contacted his attorney Anand Ramlogan and is awaiting advice. Ramlogan told Newsday, attorney Douglas Bailey will also be taking on the case.

In a four-page letter, attorney Wendy Ramnath-Panday told Supersad a High Court action for divorce is pending before the High Court. She said her client “Raj” instructed her not to disclose the action number for the divorce proceedings to protect his identity and that of the respondent.

“This is due to the fact that he has been the victim of repeated acts of harassment, abuse and derision.”

She said her client is the subject of a video posted on Facebook on November 2 last year, which forms evidence in the divorce matter.

“The content of the video contains footage of my client in a vehicle with a friend fully clothed and not engaging in any act of intimacy whatsoever. However the dramatic conduct of the respondent and her highly inflammatory language which totally misrepresented prior events, as well as what was transpiring in the vehicle at the material time, provided material for you to compose a sound recording of a musical work being a chutney soca song called ‘De Raj Story’ wherein you have verbatim repeated parts of the video.”

The letter pointed to Section 22 of the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act Chapter 45:51, which deals with the court forbidding publication of any report or account of evidence under penalty of contempt. The penalty for contravention is a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for three months.

The attorney said Supersad did not ascertain the truth nor seek permission from her client to repeat his name nor use details from the video.

“You have authored a sound recording which seeks to satirise my client by exposing him to ridicule and has damaged his reputation and has caused him considerable hurt distress and embarrassment.”

The letter also referred to a December 30, 2017 article in Newsday entitled “Kenneth wants ‘Raj’ On-stage,” which reported that Supersad offered Raj a cash incentive to appear on stage.

The attorney said her client has instructed her to demand that Supersad cease repeating these false and malicious allegations in the sound recording or any performance under the name of De Raj Story, since the allegations are sub judice and are not a matter of public interest, not fair comment and a breach of Section 22 of the act.