Hatebreed have formally responded to founding bassist Chris Beattie‘s lawsuit, blasting his claims as legally baseless and framing the dispute as nothing greater than a “backyard selection band break-up case.”
Beattie, who was dismissed from Hatebreed final November, first filed go well with in July at Connecticut Superior Courtroom in New Haven. In his criticism, he insisted that he was the “driving power behind [Hatebreed‘s] sound and id till his sudden and baseless expulsion” and accused frontman Jamey Jasta (actual title James Shanahan) of displaying “more and more erratic” conduct main as much as his dismissal, “culminating in a unilateral choice to chop Beattie off from his profession, followers, touring, and substantial anticipated income.”
On September 25, Hatebreed and Jasta filed a movement to strike components of Beattie‘s lawsuit. In keeping with a report by Billboard, the movement dismissed Beattie as “a disgruntled former band member” who “erroneously asserts a proper to stay a everlasting member” of Hatebreed “in perpetuity even supposing the underlying relationship between the events was terminable at-will.”
The movement additionally revealed that Beattie, Jasta, and drummer Matthew Byrne had signed a band merchandise settlement again in 2015, giving the three 25% of merchandise income every, whereas two different members acquired 12.5%. However Hatebreed‘s authorized workforce confused that Beattie “wholly fails to allege that any settlement was concluded with Hatebreed, or Hatebreed‘s members, or that [Beattie] has an possession curiosity within the Band’s title.”
In keeping with the submitting: “[Beattie] claims [Jasta] and [Beattie] maintained an ‘implied settlement’ from the Band’s inception that [Beattie] can be an ‘equal co-owner’ and share within the Band’s income, royalties and rights. [Beattie‘s] criticism is devoid of any allegation Hatebreed maintained an settlement with [Beattie] regarding his standing with the Band or his entitlement to Band revenues. With no written settlement with a time period, [Beattie‘s] relationship with the Band was terminable at-will.”
Beattie additionally alleged that his firing stemmed from a false harassment declare made by a Stay Nation safety guard forward of a November 2024 present on the Toyota Oakdale Theater in Connecticut. His criticism acknowledged: “These allegations have been patently unfaithful. Beattie by no means harassed any Stay Nation worker and extra doubtless, she mistook him for another person.”
Hatebreed countered that even when the incident was referenced throughout his dismissal, it wasn’t grounds for authorized motion: “[Beattie] merely alleges [Hatebreed and Jasta] ‘abruptly terminated’ [Beattie] from his position within the Band ‘primarily based on unsupported and false allegations’ related to the Stay Nation incident which resulted in his ’emotional misery.’ Even when the Stay Nation incident was ‘cited’ as a ‘false narrative’ for his termination, [Beattie‘s] allegations don’t quantity to a cognizable declare as a result of the incident merely preceded his termination — it was not related with the termination course of itself.”
On the coronary heart of Beattie‘s claims are accusations that Hatebreed withheld cash and shut him out of monetary transparency. His lawsuit argued that he “contributed vital labor, musical expertise, recording and administration duties, promotion, and monetary sources, with out which Hatebreed wouldn’t and couldn’t have achieved its present degree of recognition and profitability.”
He claimed that the band operated with an “implied settlement and understanding that Shanahan and Beattie have been equal co-owners within the band and entitled to their designated share of income, royalties, and mental property rights,” and that he usually had “no perception into how the cash” from merchandise gross sales was managed.
Beattie mentioned that “regardless of his repeated requests in 2023 and 2024, [he] by no means acquired any monetary info confirming that the portion of the proceeds he acquired constituted 25% of gross sales as promised.”
Beattie has argued that his dismissal has had a “vital adverse influence on his profession, fame, and well being and well-being.” His lawsuit additionally accuses Hatebreed of continuous “to promote merchandise utilizing Beattie‘s likeness in its on-line retailer” and claims that “Hatebreed and Shanahan additionally proceed to advertise the band utilizing Beattie‘s likeness.”
Hatebreed, in the meantime, preserve that Beattie‘s case boils all the way down to nothing greater than a former member making an attempt to assert rights he would not legally maintain. Their submitting dismisses his arguments as an try and rewrite the phrases of his exit: “[Beattie‘s] unjust enrichment declare is insufficiently pled as a result of [Beattie] fails to allege he’s entitled to Band income in perpetuity after termination primarily based merely on his prior contributions to the Band.”
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