Axl Rose's attorney, Howard Weitzman, has issued a statement in response to that lawsuit filed last week by former Guns 'N' Roses members Slash and Duff over the management of the band's back catalogue royalties. As previously reported, the former band members accuse Rose of entering into a new publishing deal without their permission, and of keeping all the royalties for himself.
But after describing the lawsuit as "frivolous", Weitzman told reporters: "This is a classic case of premature accusation. If someone had taken the time to investigate or ask about this situation before rushing to judgment, they would have learned that [royalty body] ASCAP made a clerical error. The amount ASCAP mistakenly sent to Axl's publisher was never received by Axl nor was he ever made aware of the error. The publisher alerted ASCAP to the error, returned the money immediately and asked ASCAP to remedy the situation by distributing the funds appropriately... It is clear that Slash and Duff are looking for another opportunity to spread untruths about Axl in an effort to hurt his reputation and to alienate his fans while at the same time creating a profile for themselves. Contrary to allegations in the lawsuit, Axl has never denied that others made substantial contributions towards the success of Guns N' Roses, but there is little doubt as to who was the creative catalyst behind the group's success."