The two women attended the R&B singer’s concert on May 6, 2023 at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles
Jeffrey Osborne has been sued by two women who claim he was negligent and discriminatory at one of his concerts, leaving them “emotionally disturbed”.
Danielle Buchanan and Maneva Currie filed a lawsuit Tuesday in California Superior Court against the “On the Wings of Love” singer, 75, and the Greek Theater, where he performed.
They claimed that Osborne intentionally caused them emotional pain, and that the Greek Theater was negligent and violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which provides protections against discrimination by all California business establishments.
The two women claim they were attending one of Osborne’s concerts on May 6, 2023 at the Greek Theater when the singer requested that his team find someone in the audience to help him sing his 1986 hit “You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song) . ”
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The team eventually chose Buchanan to sing “Can you woo woo woo?” to a microphone with a “camera pointed” at her, which broadcast her face on two large screens on either side of the stage, according to a complaint obtained by PEOPLE.
Buchanan was “smiling and ready” to sing for the cameras, and her friend Currie recorded the moment Osborne allegedly told the audience and his team: “I want a white guy” on her phone.
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Singer Jeffery Osborne performs on stage at Mable House Barnes Amphitheater on July 30, 2022 in Mableton, Georgia.
Paras Griffin/Getty
Buchanan claimed she was “shocked, embarrassed and humiliated” by Osborne’s words and tried to make light of the situation by announcing on the microphone: “I’m white”. However, his team took away the microphone and looked for someone else to give it to. Currie claimed she was also “embarrassed and humiliated” by the situation.
In the complaint, the women said other audience members around them made comments about Osborne’s “discriminatory behavior” that left them “even more emotionally disturbed” and unable to “enjoy” the rest of the concert.
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Buchanan said in the filing that she called the Greek Theater and verbally complained after the concert, but claimed she did not hear back from the venue.
“[Buchanan and Currie] left the concert emotionally upset,” the complaint states. “On the basis of public humiliation, [they] for months they were afraid to engage socially in their lives and in the end they had to seek psychotherapy because of the pain and suffering.”
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The submission continues: “As a result of Osborne’s negligent and discriminatory conduct, he caused [the plaintiffs] damage.”
The women are seeking punitive damages of more than $2 million and a jury trial.
Attorneys for Buchanan and Currie and representatives for Osborne did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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