In April of last year, four former members of Swedish metal outfit Ghost sued frontman Tobias Forge (f.k.a. Papa Emeritus) for allegedly cheating them out of touring and album sales revenue. Now, their lawsuit has been dismissed by a Swedish court.
As Linkoping News reports [via Blabbermouth], the decision to dismiss the case was made today after a six-day trial. The four former band members were ordered to pay Forge's legal fees of 1.3 million SEK, in addition to their own.
In 2017, the four former members revealed their previously hidden identities to file the lawsuit against Forge. Guitarists Simon Söderberg and Henrik Palm, drummer Martin Hjertstedt, and keyboardist Mauro Rubino alleged they had not received a rightful share of Ghost's profit from sales of merchandise and albums.
The four members stated in the suit that Forge controlled the group's business operations without consulting any of them. The lawsuit also claimed that an agreement existed to put Forge in charge of said duties.
Earlier this year, Forge told The Guardian that he interpreted the legal proceedings against him as a sign that he "must be doing something right. He added, "With hindsight, I think the reveal didn't really damage the band as negatively as the intention behind it [the lawsuit]. I had to go through a little bit of surgery when it came to my social life."
Forge continued: "A lot of the decisions that I made were based on trying to accommodate people's wishes, trying to be a friend and set them up for life. That intention seems to have been turned into me trying to fuck people over. That feels like a betrayal because this was not done out of spite at all."
Söderberg, Palm, Hjertstedt and Rubino have a three-week period to appeal the ruling. It is currently unclear whether they will continue legal action.
Ghost released their Prequelle LP earlier this year. The band are set to kick off a North American tour later this month.
As Linkoping News reports [via Blabbermouth], the decision to dismiss the case was made today after a six-day trial. The four former band members were ordered to pay Forge's legal fees of 1.3 million SEK, in addition to their own.
In 2017, the four former members revealed their previously hidden identities to file the lawsuit against Forge. Guitarists Simon Söderberg and Henrik Palm, drummer Martin Hjertstedt, and keyboardist Mauro Rubino alleged they had not received a rightful share of Ghost's profit from sales of merchandise and albums.
The four members stated in the suit that Forge controlled the group's business operations without consulting any of them. The lawsuit also claimed that an agreement existed to put Forge in charge of said duties.
Earlier this year, Forge told The Guardian that he interpreted the legal proceedings against him as a sign that he "must be doing something right. He added, "With hindsight, I think the reveal didn't really damage the band as negatively as the intention behind it [the lawsuit]. I had to go through a little bit of surgery when it came to my social life."
Forge continued: "A lot of the decisions that I made were based on trying to accommodate people's wishes, trying to be a friend and set them up for life. That intention seems to have been turned into me trying to fuck people over. That feels like a betrayal because this was not done out of spite at all."
Söderberg, Palm, Hjertstedt and Rubino have a three-week period to appeal the ruling. It is currently unclear whether they will continue legal action.
Ghost released their Prequelle LP earlier this year. The band are set to kick off a North American tour later this month.
