Lee’s Way Or The Highway
Evanescence singer Amy Lee is suing her former manager for “financial and sexual misconduct,” according to MTV.com. Lee filed the lawsuit December 7th against Denis Rider of Rider Management, whom she severed ties with in November. According to MTV.com, the suit charges Rider for a number of claims including, “breach of fiduciary duty, sexual assault and battery, and professional negligence.” The singer also claims Rider made “repeated unwelcome sexual advances toward Lee.” Rider allegedly used “Lee’s corporate credit card to purchase gifts for his mistress” to hide his extramarital affairs from his wife.
Raising questions about Lee’s relationship with Evanescence ex-guitarist, Ben Moody, the suit also claims Rider “engaged in conflict of interest” because he was still managing Moody. The termination letter sent to Rider was included in the suit stating, “Ms. Lee was recently in an abusive relationship with Ben Moody. She has no intention of associating with any persons who engage in that sort of abusive and illegal conduct.”
Lee’s lawsuit follows one filed against her by Rider December 1st claiming breach of contract and seeking $10 million in damages. His attorney told MTV.com, “Lee is creating a version of reality that simply has no basis in fact, and she knows that.”
The family of Damageplan/Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott have filed a lawsuit against the club where he was shot and killed on December 8, 2004. Their lawyer, Gerald Leeseberg, told MTV.com, “The central allegation of the lawsuit is that there was inadequate security.” Prior to the shooting at the Columbus, Ohio, club Alrosa Villa, where ex-Marine Nathan Gale killed Dimebag and four others, witnesses said he was acting suspiciously by blocking the parking lot exit with his car and pacing in front of the club. Leeseberg said the club’s security watched Gale scale the security fence and gain access to the club, entering through a side door after running past security guards. “One of the security guards said that he didn’t want to mess with him [Gale] because he was a big dude,” Leeseberg told MTV.com. The lawsuit is seeking compensation for damages.
G-Unit rapper Young Buck won’t be facing jail time for last year’s Vibe Awards stabbings. Buck, out on bail since his arrest last fall for assault with a deadly weapon, saw the charge dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to a lesser charge of assault with a chance to produce bodily injury. He was sentenced to three years felony probation and 80 hours community service. Bucks’ attorneys told MTV.com DNA evidence, as well as video footage showing the rapper holding a fork, not a knife, proved he didn’t inflict injury or stab the victim, Jimmy James Johnson. He did, however, enjoy the meatloaf served at the awards show. Police are still attempting to use the Vibe Awards video tape to identify two people seen with knives during the incident. Not one to miss a publicity opportunity, as Buck left the courtroom he shared his new album, Bad Influence, will be out in the summer.
— Jill Haverkamp
