Country singer Luke Combs is speaking out after a fan was hit with a major lawsuit. The Grammy Award nominee took to TikTok to share his side of the story after a Florida news station reported that Nicol Harness was sued for copyright infringement for selling Luke Combs-themed tumblers.
Nicol sells homemade gifts online, and she sold 18 Luke Combs tumblers for a total of $380 before being notified of the lawsuit. A judge ordered her to pay $250,000 for the copyright infringement. As a part of the lawsuit, her Amazon storefront has been shut down, and all of her proceeds have been frozen. In the NBC WFLA interview, Nicol apologized to Luke and said: “I didn’t mean any harm. I’m a supporter of Luke Combs. I respect him, and this is not something I meant to go wrong like this. I just want to get back to my day-to-day life.”
Luke was made aware of the situation and is taking action to make it right. In his video response, he explains: “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... Somehow, this woman Nicol has gotten wrapped up in this.
“I was able to get Nicol’s phone number; I spoke to her this morning,” he continued. “She told me that she was absolutely shocked by this. I’m so apologetic. Talking to her, it makes me sick, honestly, that this would happen.”
Luke told his fans that he is going to send Nicol $11,000—twice the amount of money frozen in her Amazon account—and he’s going to make his own tumbler and give the proceeds to Nicol, who has congestive heart failure. He also invited Nicole and her family to a show so he can give her a hug in person.
He said, “I was completely shocked when I saw this this morning. It makes me sick. This is not something that I would ever do. This is not the kind of person I am.”
In early November, Combs won Single of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards for his cover of “Fast Car,” written and originally performed by Tracy Chapman. The song also earned him a 2024 Grammy nomination for Best Country Solo Performance. He is competing against Tyler Childers’ “In Your Love,” Brandy Clark’s “Buried,” Dolly Parton’s “The Last Thing On My Mind,” and Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse.”
