Apollonia Sues Prince's Estate to Keep Her Name

Apollonia (born Patricia Apollonia Kotero), who shot to stardom as Prince's love interest in the 1984 film Purple Rain and became his protégé, filed a lawsuit yesterday accusing his estate, Paisley Park Enterprises, of “attempting to steal” her name, according to Rolling Stone magazine.

The suit, filed in the Los Angeles federal court, says Prince's estate "claimed ownership of the 'Apollonia' trademark in June, filing an 'intent-to-use' application for use in connection with clothing and entertainment services."

The lawsuit claims, "the estate has since taken steps to cancel her trademark registrations and applications."

Rolling Stone says Prince’s estate "purportedly claimed that Kotero waived all of her rights related to the name Apollonia when she signed a 1983 contract for her Purple Rain role."

According to a 1984 New York Times article, Kotero was an aspiring actress and model at the time of casting when Prince asked her to use her middle name, Apollonia, as her stage name. She ultimately replaced Prince's ex-associate Vanity in the role of his love interest, named Apollonia.

She also replaced Vanity as the lead singer of Vanity 6, and the band was renamed Apollonia 6.

The lawsuit argues that Apollonia has been using the name for 40 years and that any ownership claimed by Prince's estate was “never enforced”, so the “alleged rights” expired “long ago.”

After Purple Rain made her famous, Apollonia toured worldwide to promote the movie and her hit song from the film, "Sex Shooter". In 1985, she became a regular on the television series Falcon Crest as the character Apollonia, and credited as Apollonia Kotero. Her self-titled solo album, Apollonia, was released in 1988.

Apollonia claims that Prince, "never demanded that she cease using the name Apollonia and never 'contended that the name did not belong to her either personally or professionally.'”

Prince died in 2016 at the age of 57 from an accidental fentanyl overdose.

Apollonia (Photo credit: Harry Langdon)