Dirt Under The Nails: A Tammy Taylor Expose

What began as a promising venture turned sour for hopeful franchisees as the South African nail and beauty industry was rocked by legal turbulence and the Tammy Taylor brand became synonymous with scandal.

In the latest developments, the CEO and founder of Tammy Taylor Nails, announced the initiation of a landmark $100 million (around R1.9 billion) lawsuit against the two South Africans responsible for the brand locally Peet and Melany Viljoen.

Tammy Taylor is an American high-quality nail product that is synonymous with celebrities like Billie Eilish. Tammy Taylor, 61, opened her first nail salon in 1981, at age 18 with $400 (around R7,672) in her pocket.

Two years later, she launched her namesake product line, which has become a global player in the professional space.

The once promising venture was first announced in 2016 by Melany Viljoen.

It eventually culminated in Tammy Taylor's termination of the licensing agreement with the Viljoens amid ongoing allegations of trademark misuse and questionable business practices. A claim the couple denied.

In an unexpected twist of events, Taylor published a video on her social media platforms on March 28, alleging that the Viljoens had illegally used her name to sell franchises, counterfeited and sold her products, forged her signature and that many more infractions had been documented.

A post shared by Tammy Taylor (@tammytaylornails)

Taylor also indicated that she had been threatened and harassed by the Viljoens and that she would no longer be a victim of their abuse.

Taylor followed this up with another announcement that she had filed a lawsuit for $100 million (around R1.9 billion).

IOL confirmed that the lawsuit had been filed on April 2, with the US District Court for the Southern District of California against Melany Viljoen, Peet Viljoen, and Tammy Taylor Global Franchising a company registered on CIPC in Melany Viljoens name.

The Viljoens lashed back with a series of videos on social media. The videos claim Taylor did not own the Tammy Taylor trademark or have a product to licence.

Peet Viljoen released a video on Instagram where he briefly referred to a document that he alleged demonstrated that he owned the Tammy Taylor trademark in South Africa.

A post shared by Petrus Jacobus Viljoen (@peetviljoen_ttn)

The claims made by Viljoen on the ownership of the trademark were previously debunked in the October 30, 2022, Carte Blanche episode.

Karel Bredenkamp, an intellectual property lawyer from Bredenkamp IP, had highlighted that the trademark in South Africa was owned by Tammy Taylor Inc. in the United States .

In response to a question regarding the lawsuit in an interview on 94.7 Drive with Thando from April 11 , the Viljoens indicated they were suing Tammy Taylor and that there was no lawsuit against them.

IOLs inquiry to Taylor regarding the lawsuit was referred to Patrick Kelly, the legal representative of Tammy Taylor Nails Inc. in this lawsuit.

In an e-mail, that included a copy of the complaint that was filed against the Viljoens in the United States, Kelly indicated the following:

After April 2022, the Viljoens had no right to use the Tammy Taylor Nails name in any respect and had no affiliation with Tammy Taylor Nails.

But the Viljoens continue to use Tammy Taylor Nails to promote their business and products. They are selling salons and using the name Tammy Taylor Nails to do so, Kelly wrote.

They are also selling products with the name Tammy Taylor Nails, which are not manufactured by Tammy Taylor Nails. They have also created an entity called Tammy Taylor Global Franchising to allegedly sell franchise nail salon stores under the Tammy Taylor Nails name.

Moreover, they are repeatedly misleading the public by claiming to own Tammy Taylor Nails and/or the rights to the name Tammy Taylor Nails. All of these acts amount to trademark infringement and are damaging the Tammy Taylor Nails name, brand, and image in amount believed to be no less than $100,000,000.

In response, the Viljoens told IOL they had filed an application with the High Court in Pretoria to declare they are the rightful owners of the Tammy Taylor trademark.

The only litigation between us, and the Americans have been sent to you just now. Also proof that [the] same was served on the lawyers of Tammy Rae Taylor, Peet Viljoen told IOL.

On the Instagram of Melany we have published a full statement. Also on my Instagram, he said.