Boy George and Culture Club bandmates to pay £1.75million to ex-drummer Jon Moss
Boy George and his Culture Club bandmates have agreed to pay £1.75million to their ex-drummer Jon Moss over lost profits.
The settlement has meant that a High Court trial opening next week has now been averted. Moss had brought legal action against the band’s lead singer Boy George, guitarist Roy Hay and bassist Michael Craig following his alleged expulsion by their manager in September 2018 after 37 years of playing together.
According to an order approved by Mrs Justice Joanna Smith, Moss has agreed to relinquish any right to the Culture Club name and its use, including in connection with concerts and merchandise, in return for the £1.75million [via Metro].
The High Court previously heard that the band had settled a dispute over whether there was a “continuing partnership” since the formation of Culture Club. George, Hay and Craig all conceded that there was until Moss’s departure in 2018.
Next week’s now-abandoned trial was due to consider the outstanding issues of the value of the Culture Club name and the profits made by the band since Moss’s alleged expulsion.
The trial was also due to cover Moss’s additional claim to an “outstanding balance” of $246,000 (£201,000) under the terms of a band agreement reached over the operation of its 2018 ‘Life’ tour.
In 2022 the court was told that Moss was amending his legal challenge to include allegations that Boy George “conspired to defraud” him over the ‘Life’ tour money after he learnt that funds were released to a US company, You Give Me Life, Inc (YGML) following the settlement of legal proceedings in America in January 2021.
YGML and another English company, Other Places Drama LLP (OPD) had brought legal action against Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) in California, claiming to be entitled to the money it held. Both firms were reported to be George’s personal service companies.
Moss had originally launched litigation seeking a court declaration that the outstanding balance money was being held for him by APA, acting as his agent.
The drummer claimed that Boy George, YGML and/or OPD, were allegedly in breach of the “deal memo” that he said meant each band member would receive a fee of $600,000 (£491,000) for up to 80 concerts on the ‘Life’ tour.
George previously accused Moss of making a “personal attack on me” and denied the allegations. However, in 2020 he said that he met with Moss in order to “apologise for some things”.
Moss previously claimed to the court that he had spent £1million in legal costs.
The post Boy George and Culture Club bandmates to pay £1.75million to ex-drummer Jon Moss appeared first on NME.
Charlotte Krol
NME
