As legal issues once again heat up surrounding Soundgarden, the band have now responded to the latest lawsuit filed by Chris Cornell's widow, Vicky Cornell.
As previously reported, Vicky Cornell revealed last week that she is taking the band's surviving members back to court over a potential sale of the group's recording catalogue, claiming the group made her a "lowball" offer.
In her filing on February 16 in the U.S. District Court Western District of Washington, she alleged that Soundgarden's three surviving members (Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Hunter Shepherd) offered her $300,000 USD for the late vocalist's cut of a potential sale of their master recordings — a number she's not happy with at all.
In response to Vicky Cornell's legal action, the surviving Soundgarden members have now stated the following:
The buyout offer that was demanded by the Estate has been grossly mischaracterized and we are confident that clarity will come out in court. All offers to buy out our interests have been unsolicited and rejected outright. For more than a year, Soundgarden's social media accounts have been hijacked; misleading and confusing our fans. Being a band from Washington State since 1984, we are proud of Soundgarden's musical legacy, work and career. We look forward to completing the final Soundgarden album.
Previously, her lawyer stated the following:
The band's contention that this dispute is somehow not about the money for them is absurd and hypocritical. Of course this is about money and their greed. They received a third party offer to buy just a portion of their interests for 16 million dollars, and yet subsequently offered to buy out Chris' interest for a mere $278,000. And then Vicky offered $21 million for their shares, which they turned down—not because they wanted to preserve their life's work but because they know that they will make even more off of future exploitation of the music that Chris wrote and the legacy that he created (which has lined their pockets for years.
Vicky Cornell's 2019 lawsuit saw her claim that Soundgarden were withholding "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in royalty payments that are "indisputably owed" to the late frontman's family.
As previously reported, Vicky Cornell revealed last week that she is taking the band's surviving members back to court over a potential sale of the group's recording catalogue, claiming the group made her a "lowball" offer.
In her filing on February 16 in the U.S. District Court Western District of Washington, she alleged that Soundgarden's three surviving members (Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Hunter Shepherd) offered her $300,000 USD for the late vocalist's cut of a potential sale of their master recordings — a number she's not happy with at all.
In response to Vicky Cornell's legal action, the surviving Soundgarden members have now stated the following:
The buyout offer that was demanded by the Estate has been grossly mischaracterized and we are confident that clarity will come out in court. All offers to buy out our interests have been unsolicited and rejected outright. For more than a year, Soundgarden's social media accounts have been hijacked; misleading and confusing our fans. Being a band from Washington State since 1984, we are proud of Soundgarden's musical legacy, work and career. We look forward to completing the final Soundgarden album.
Previously, her lawyer stated the following:
The band's contention that this dispute is somehow not about the money for them is absurd and hypocritical. Of course this is about money and their greed. They received a third party offer to buy just a portion of their interests for 16 million dollars, and yet subsequently offered to buy out Chris' interest for a mere $278,000. And then Vicky offered $21 million for their shares, which they turned down—not because they wanted to preserve their life's work but because they know that they will make even more off of future exploitation of the music that Chris wrote and the legacy that he created (which has lined their pockets for years.
Vicky Cornell's 2019 lawsuit saw her claim that Soundgarden were withholding "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in royalty payments that are "indisputably owed" to the late frontman's family.
