Simon Cowell’s new boy band, December 10, are potentially facing legal action over their name.
Having discovered acts such as Leona Lewis, Little Mix, and Fifth Harmony through his reality shows including X Factor, Cowell launched a new search on December 10 with the Netflix show Simon Cowell: The Next Act, which sees him search for his next boyband.
The new group – comprised of Hendrik Christoffersen, Cruz Lee-Ojo, John Fadare, Nicolas Alves, Josh Olliver, Danny Bretherton and Sean Hayden – were put together as part of the show, with Cowell announcing they were called December 10 upon its launch last week.
Now, Scottish metal band December Tenth have taken to social media to report being inundated with messages confusing the two bands.
In a now-deleted post, the band wrote: “It came to light over the last few days that Simon Cowell, Netflix and Universal Music, are involved in a new boy band that share, to some extent, our name December Tenth,” per The Mirror.
“Now if anyone in Simon’s team, Universal or Netflix, would like to get in touch with ourselves and our legal team they can do so,” they added. “I would like to point out, the hundreds of new followers we have over the last few days are most welcome, but I’m not entirely sure they are all genuine.”
NME have reached out to representatives for December 10 and Cowell for comment.
It’s not the first time a group associated with Cowell has ran into trouble regarding their name. Back in 2011, Little Mix were forced to change their name from Rhythmix after a dispute with a children’s charity with the same name
An official synopsis for Simon Cowell: The Next Act reads: “This is unlike any show he has made before. From raw open casting calls to the release of their debut single, this is an all-access pass for viewers to catch every moment of Simon’s next chapter. Will he strike gold once again?” Check out the trailer above.
Cowell has said of returning with The Next Act: “The world has changed a lot. Music’s changed. But at the heart of it, weirdly, nothing really has changed because it really still comes down to the same basics, which is you’ve gotta find stars.”
Speaking about his fears about the process, he said: “You’ve gotta be confident. Otherwise, why bother doing it? I mean, I didn’t do this to fail. At the same time, once we started the process, I was like, ‘Oh God, what if no one turns up?’ That was a huge factor.
“And the real fear was – when we narrowed the numbers down and I was flying them out to the U.S. to work with producers and very well-known vocal coaches and musicians – what if they sound terrible?”
All five members of One Direction – Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Liam Payne – auditioned for The X Factor as solo artists, and were ultimately put together as a group by Cowell during the series.
Earlier this month, Cowell opened up about the death of Liam Payne, the One Direction member whom he discovered in 2010’s edition of The X Factor. He told Rolling Stone: “When I heard the news, it really hit me. I saw him a year before this happened. He came over to my house. We talked about his son and being a dad.”
“I remember saying, ‘Music is not everything. Don’t let it run your life anymore. Find something else that you are passionate about.’ You ask yourself that question: ‘Could I have done anything more?’”
In March, Elton John criticised talent shows such as The X Factor and American Idol, saying that they are “just the worst” for new artists.
