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Artist News Legal
The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz sues the FBI
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 31 August 2022
The last surviving member of The Monkees, Micky Dolenz, has sued the FBI demanding access to documents it possesses about the band. In a lawsuit filed this week, he says that he has attempted to gain this information via a Freedom Of Information Act request, but has so far had no response beyond an acknowledgement that his request was received in June.
Dolenz has launched the lawsuit because, he says, he has exhausted all other avenues, despite being “entitled to timely receipt of nonexempt copies of all records responsive to his [request]”, according to Law360.
He also hints in the lawsuit at what he plans to do with the information he seeks, saying that he “has the ability to disseminate information on a wide scale and may use information obtained through his request in an original work, particularly an independent film, documentary or book”.
Now, you might be thinking, “Pfft! The FBI probably doesn’t even have any files on The Monkees”. But that’s where you’d be wrong. Because the FBI’s website acknowledges that it has at least two files: “A 1967 Los Angeles Field Office memorandum on anti-Vietnam war activities and a second document redacted entirely”.
The first of those documents states that during a concert in 1966, “subliminal messages were depicted on a screen, which … constituted ‘left wing innovations of a political nature’”.
Dolenz’s lawsuit also suggests that there may be other files, given that members of The Monkees “were known to have associated with other musicians and individuals whose activities were monitored” by the FBI, including Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and other members of The Beatles.
The lawsuit adds that there is no reason for the FBI to withhold the files requested, because Dolenz “frequently tours around the world performing and is often a guest on radio and television programmes”. And therefore, it goes on, “based on established criteria, Mr Dolenz qualifies for designation as a representative of the news media”.
So that’s them told. In a statement to Law360, Dolenz’s attorney Mark Zaid said: “Most people might not think a lawsuit concerning the 60s rock band The Monkees would reveal what our government was up to, but this litigation actually demonstrates the intended power of the Freedom Of Information Act. The FBI was actively monitoring war dissenters, perceived radicals and anyone counter to J Edgar Hoover’s cultural beliefs, and that included The Monkees”.
It remains to be seen how the FBI responds.
