Judge lets Ariana Grande skip hearing in beauty trademark suit

In light of safety issues including a recent red carpet attack and a gig hosting “Saturday Night Life,” Ariana Grande won’t have to attend an upcoming hearing in a federal trademark lawsuit targeting her makeup line, r.e.m. beauty, a judge decided Tuesday

New York-based cosmetics company R.E.D. Springs claims the pop singer and “Wicked” star capitalized on the goodwill it created with its similarly named “R.E.M. Spring” facial hair removal device.

According to the lawsuit, Grande and co-defendant companies Agrem BTY LLC and Thunder Road Inc. in 2021 “introduced a confusingly similar R.E.M. Beauty mark, also for use in connection with facial beauty products.”

“Using defendant Ariana Grande’s considerable reach as an international pop star, defendants have since flooded the market with advertising for their infringing R.E.M. Beauty mark, including to defendant Ariana Grande’s hundreds of millions of social media followers,” R.E.D. Springs claims in its June suit in Brooklyn federal court.

Grande filed a motion to dismiss, and initially, U.S. District Judge Gary Brown ordered the “Thank U, Next” singer to appear alongside her counsel at a Dec. 18 hearing to argue the motion. In her request to sit it out, Grande’s attorney flagged “significant concerns for her safety,” and said the singer scaled back public appearances after a Nov. 13 incident at the Singapore premiere of “Wicked: For Good.” While Grande and her co-stars walked the red carpet, Australian influencer Johnson Wen jumped a barricade, rushed at her and threw his arms around her neck. Wen, whom prosecutors describe as a “serial intruder” known for disrupting concerts and sports games, was later arrested and sentenced to nine days in jail in Singapore.

Attorney Sarah Matz of Adelman Matz argued that her client’s appearance at the federal courthouse on Long Island could scuttle the proceeding.

“Grande’s personal appearance will present an unnecessary safety risk, significant expense to her to mitigate those safety concerns and potential disruptions at the courthouse,” Matz wrote.

In addition, Matz said, Grande is set to host “Saturday Night Life” on Dec. 20, posing a scheduling issue even for a remote appearance, given the sketch show’s stacked week of rehearsals and filming.

“Grande will be in extensive rehearsals as well as potentially filming any digital shorts or parodies that she may appear in, which she cannot reschedule or modify,” Matz wrote.

Brown agreed to let the singer off the hook in an order Tuesday.

“Grande is excused from appearing at the 12/18 pre-motion conference both in her individual capacity and as a Thunder Road representative,” the judge wrote. “The in-person attendance requirement remains in effect for the other clients.”

Neither party’s attorneys immediately returned requests for comment.