Florence Ballard her suit. Angered, Gordy ordered her to return to Detroit, and Birdsong officially replaced her, abruptly ending her tenure with the Supremes. It had been decided as early as May that Birdsong would be Ballard's official replacement once Birdsong's contract with the Bluebelles was bought out. In August 1967, the "Detroit Free Press" reported that Ballard had taken a temporary leave of absence from the group due to "exhaustion". Ballard eventually married her boyfriend, Thomas Chapman, on February 29, 1968. A week earlier, on February 22, Ballard and Motown negotiated to have Ballard released from the label. Her attorney in
Chris Ballard (politician) Chris Ballard (politician) Chris Ballard is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2014 to 2018 who represented the riding of Newmarket—Aurora. He was a member of cabinet in the government of Kathleen Wynne. Ballard was a journalist with the "Newmarket Era", the "Aurora Banner", the "Orillia Packet and Times", Canadian Press and the "Toronto Star". He has run his own business consultancy firm CSB Communications with clients in the business, education, association sectors in Ontario. He was also the Executive Director for a consumers advocacy group. He lives