John Legend is sharing more details about the having to negotiate with a porn producer in order to officially go by his iconic stage name.
The star, 46, previously revealed he came to an agreement with porn producer Johnny Legend in order to be the official ‘John Legend’.
But now Legend has shared another detail in the bizarre legal obstacle.
As it turns out, Johnny Legend also has an interest in music – a factor that only added to the possibility of a trademark infringement.
‘And lo and behold,’ Legend said on the MGM+ show Words + Music, ‘There’s a porn producer – I kid you not – a porn producer who dabbled in rockabilly music, and he went by the name Johnny Legend.’
‘The fact that he made music, rockabilly music, and his name was Johnny Legend, meant that there was a possible trademark infringement case,’ he continued.
John Legend is sharing more details about having to negotiate with a porn producer in order to officially go by his iconic stage name
Legend reached out to porn producer Johnny Legend in order to come to an agreement about their names; pictured 2007
‘We had to find Johnny Legend, negotiate with him, cut a mutually exclusive deal stating that he was Johnny Legend, and I was John Legend,’ he said.
‘He wouldn’t sue me. I wouldn’t sue him. He wouldn’t try to get into the soul music business pretending to be John Legend. And I’m happy to make clear that I kept my side of the agreement.
‘I didn’t produce any porn, didn’t make any rockabilly music pretending to be Johnny Legend.’
The humorous story came after Legend revealed how poet J. Ivy conceived of the name, prompting him to go by the name despite not having a record deal at the time.
Legend previously shared the Johnny Legend story back in 2023.
‘I’ve never met him before. My manager, we had to clear the trademark. He reached out and negotiated a deal. I would always be John Legend and he’d always be Johnny Legend and we’d never cross,’ he said on the Jonathan Ross Show.
Johnny’s IMDb describes him as a ‘modern-day Renaissance man’ and an ‘actor, director, rockabilly singer, trash film historian, wrestling manager, and promoter.’
His musical background includes recording multiple tracks for Ronny Weiser’s Rollin’ Rock Records and co-writing the song Pencil Neck Geek in 1977, according to IMDb.
In 1977, Johnny also released the crude porno comedy, Teenage Cruisers, according to his IMDb.
Legend recounted his name’s origin story on the MGM+ show Words + Music
Legend – born John Stephens – was given the name by his friend, poet J. Ivy, who conceived of the moniker after hearing his music.
In a 2024 interview with The Daily Mail, J. Ivy recalled giving the name to Legend while they both were working on Kanye West’s 2004 album The College Dropout.
‘I met John Stephens the night that I recorded my verse of Never Let Me Down,’ Ivy told The Daily Mail.
After listening to Legend’s music at West’s urging, the Ordinary People singer ended up walking into the studio.
‘I didn’t know he was there. So I was shocked to see him! “Ah what’s up man!… I heard your music, it’s amazing. It sound like that music from the old school! Sound like that music my folks used to listen to!”
Legend was crowned ‘John Legend’ by his friend, poet J. Ivy, who gave him the moniker after first hearing his music; J. Ivy pictured earlier this month
‘I was like, “Man, you sound like one of the legends! You a legend, you a legend! Matter of fact, that’s what I’m going to call you from now on. I’m going to call you legend.” So I started calling him John Legend, John Legend. So it was just me and him talking and a couple days later we’re in the lounge of the studio we were at record playing.
‘And John Stephens, who was signed to Kanye as John Stephens, he had albums out as John Stephens. I mean this is his government name, he’s been John Stephens his whole life.
‘So they were going to put him out as John Stephens and he walked in the room, there’s like 10-12 us in the lounge, everybody is shouting him out, “John Stephens in the building! John Stephens in the house! What up John Stephens!” I was like “John Legend!…. that’s your name from now on, you John Legend!” It stuck.’
