Andra Day is having a rather good week.
On Thursday, April 9, the 41-year-old R&B star scored a major victory in her $1.6 million fight with her former manager, Jeffrey Evans.
In the ruling first reported by Rolling Stone, a Los Angeles County judge has allowed Day’s civil theft claim to move forward, rejecting Evans’ attempt to have it dismissed. The court found her allegations were adequately supported at this stage of the case. The judge also declined Evans’ request to block Day from filing for triple damages.
“This is a significant win for Ms. Day. It ensures that her civil theft claim will move forward and that the handling of her income will be subject to scrutiny in court,” Day’s lawyers, James Sammataro and Benjamin Akley, told the outlet.
In a lawsuit initially filed in October 2025, as reported by theGrio, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” star is claiming that while managing her career, Evans did not pay her the full amount she was owed. The dispute is over roughly $1.6 million in earnings from her music, touring, and related deals, she says should have gone to her but didn’t. According to the complaint, she repeatedly sought clarity and a full accounting but never got it, prompting her to escalate the dispute to a civil theft claim.
She also alleges that Evans continued to take a 40% cut of her publishing income even after their agreement expired in June 2023. Day is ultimately claiming the money wasn’t just mishandled, it was knowingly kept. Claims that if she can prove in court, she could be awarded up to three times that $1.6 million.
“[Evans] siphoned so much money from Day — a quadruple-platinum hitmaker and Golden Globe Best Actress winner — that he left her facing eviction, unable to pay the monthly minimum on her [$300,000-plus] credit card debt and without sufficient funds to tour,” read the complaint, per Page Six.
Evans has denied the allegations.
The alleged legal dispute traces back to the mid-2010s when the “Cheers to Fall” artist’s career was first taking off and stretches through the success of her 2015 hit power ballad “Rise Up” to the wave of acclaim that followed her Golden Globe-winning performance as Billie Holiday in 2021. Which makes this all feel like a mild reset is taking hold for the star.
Just days earlier, during an appearance on the “Daily Variety” podcast, Day teased new music and announced she will be performing on Saturday, April 11, at the No Kid Hungry Dinner in Los Angeles.
Her last full-length project, “Cassandra,” arrived in 2024. Since then, she has appeared in various features, but not necessarily in a way that suggested a full new era of music was underway. That appears to be changing.
“I haven’t decided whether it’s going to be a series of EPs or a full album yet,” the songstress said of the new music.
In the meantime, Day’s case will move into the discovery phase, where both sides are required to turn over financial records, contracts, and communications connected to the disputed $1.6 million. If the case is not resolved during that process, it could be headed to trial, where a jury will determine whether Evans is liable and whether Day is entitled to damages, including the possibility of tripling that amount.
