Legal Top Stories

Axl counter sues Azoff

By | Published on Wednesday 19 May 2010

The gloves are off it seems. Axl Rose has responded to that previously reported lawsuit from his former manager Irving Azoff with a nice fat countersuit.

As previously reported, Azoff, now a co-chief of the combined Live Nation Ticketmaster conglomerate, sued Rose back in March, claiming the Guns N Roses frontman had reneged on an oral agreement to pay him 15% of earnings from the band’s ‘Chinese Democracy’ tour, which would come in at a smooth $2 million. Rose had previously parted company with Azoff and his Front Line management firm, which is now the management division of the aforementioned Live Master.

In his countersuit, Rose claims that Azoff tried to force him to reunite with the original Guns N Roses line-up for a world tour, and got so absorbed with those doomed plans that he failed to properly promote the ‘Chinese Democracy’ album as a result. He also alleges Azoff lied about the potential of a Van Halen/GnR supertour and then bungled the management of the tour that did, in the end, take place (sans Halen or Slash et al).

Just for good measure, and presumably capitalising on continued discontent in the music industry and among consumer rights types about the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger, which included Front Line on its Ticketmaster side, Rose goes on to accuse Azoff of misusing his combined role of manager, promoter, venue owner and ticketing maestro to force artists into projects in which they’d rather not participate. Of course, Live Master didn’t exist at the time of Azoff’s alleged mishandling of Rose’s career, though the implication is “he misued his influence then, and he’s got even more influence now”.

Referring to Azoff’s failed plan to reunite Rose with his former GnR bandmates – who were, technically speaking, available following the implosion of the Velvet Revolver project – the countersuit says: “Upon realising that he couldn’t bully Rose and accomplish his scheme, Azoff resigned and abandoned Guns N Roses on the eve of a major tour, filing suit for commissions he didn’t earn and had no right to receive”.

Which brings the action back to the $2 million Azoff claims he is due and the Guns N Roses man doesn’t want to pay. Though Rose is asking for $5 million in damages too for good measure, claiming “breach of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud and breach of contract”.

Azoff, Front Line and Live Nation are yet to properly respond, though, on hearing the long list of allegations in the lawsuit, Azoff’s lawyer Howard King did ask Billboard: “He didn’t accuse Irving of being on the grassy knoll in Dallas on 22 Nov 1963?”

I expect this will be settled out of court, which is a shame, this legal squabble would make for some fun times in court.



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