After a Florida woman was ordered to pay country star Luke Combs $250,000 for selling counterfeit merchandise on Amazon, Luke Combs is responding with kindness.
The woman, Combs’ fan Nicol Harness, suffers from congestive heart failure, and began selling homemade tumblers for $20 bearing Comb’s likeness. Harness made a mere $380 from the merch, but after a recent hospital stay found out that a judge ordered her and other defendants to pay Combs a quarter of a million dollars each, and her Amazon storefront was locked. Harness says she was unaware of the lawsuit until her Amazon store was frozen, and later found a notice in her spam folder from Combs’ attorney giving her 21 days to respond, which had already passed.
Combs, who had been unaware of the matter until he saw news reports, has now personally responded — saying he will not pursue the lawsuit, but will pay Harness instead. Said Combs in a social media video: “This is unbelievable. I was completely shock when I saw this this morning and it makes me sick. This is not something I would ever do. This is not the kind of person I am. I am not greedy in any way, shape or form. Money is the last thing on my mind, I promise you that … I spent the last two hours trying to make this right, trying to figure out what’s going on because I was completely and utterly unaware of this. We do have a company that goes after folks only supposedly large corporations operating internationally that make millions and millions of dollars making counterfeit t-shirts and things of that nature — running illegal businesses. Apparently, this woman Nicol has somehow gotten wrapped into that, and that makes me absolutely sick to my stomach… It makes me sick honestly that would happen, especially at the holidays. I can’t imagine being in her shoes. She was never supposed to be involved in anything like this. No fan should ever have to be involved in anything like this.”
Combs spoke to Harness personally by phone, and he shared that $5,500 of her income was being held by Amazon because of the lawusuit, adding that he will be sending her $11,000 to help with medical expenses and creating tumblers he will sell on his website with proceeds to benefit her directly. He also invited Harness and her family to a show in 2024 to “give her a hug and tell her I’m sorry in person.”
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