Courtney Love Sued by Frances Bean Cobain's Ex-Husband for Alleged Murder and Kidnapping Plot

It was all in attempts to regain Kurt Cobain's famed 'MTV Unplugged' guitar, a new lawsuit claims

BY Brock ThiessenPublished May 31, 2018

Courtney Love is being sued by her daughter Frances Bean Cobain's ex-husband, who is alleging Love conspired to have him kidnapped and murdered to regain Kurt Cobain's famed MTV Unplugged guitar.

According to the civil complaint filed in Los Angeles County, Love, manager Sam Lutfi and 13 Reasons Why actor Ross Butler are all named in the suit, Billboard reports.

The lawsuit alleges the three entered into a criminal conspiracy to commit trespass, burglary, home invasion, robbery, assault, battery, kidnapping and murder against Frances Bean Cobain's ex-husband Isaiah Silva. The primary focus of the lawsuit is on alleged incidents that took place in 2016.

According to the lawsuit filed by Silva, this was all in attempts to regain Kurt Cobain's iconic 1959 Martin D-18E guitar, which he played during Nirvana's famed 1994 MTV Unplugged session.

As previously reported earlier this month, Frances Bean Cobain lost the guitar to Silva in their divorce settlement after a two-year legal battle. Silva had previously claimed that Cobain's Martin D-18E from the famed performance was gifted to him by Bean as a wedding present. The guitar is believed to be worth millions of dollars.

Love has previously referred to the guitar as a "treasured heirloom of the family" and said, "It's not [Silva's] to take." 

A source close to the family told Billboard, "Frances and the family are prepared to fight with a fury of unprecedented legal force and they will prevail."

UPDATE (10/17, 12:15 a.m. EDT): Ross Butler has since denied all claims against him, saying "I never entered into a conspiracy or otherwise agreed to commit any crime against Silva. I never conspired with anyone else to murder or kidnap Silva … or take possession of a guitar that Silva claims Ms. Cobain gave to him as a gift."

While Billboard has reached out to Love for comment, she has yet to respond to the lawsuit.

You can read more details of the complex lawsuit over here on Billboard.

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