Hawthorne Heights Sues Their Label
Emo band Hawthorne Heights is suing their label, Victory Records, and its head honcho, Tony Brummel.
Billboard reports that the lawsuit, filed Monday in Chicago, accuses Brummel of “overly-aggressive, unethical and illegal schemes and tactics” against industry figures and artists. They say this has damaged their relationship with fans and their reputation.
The band is seeking an unspecified amount of cash, a court order to stop Victory from distributing their albums, and an end to their contract with the label.
The first contentious incident seems to have taken place back in February, when Hawthorne Heights and Ne-Yo were in a sales battle to top The Billboard 200 chart.
Someone at Victory e-mailed the band’s street promotions team, urging members to grab handfuls of Ne-Yo CDs off store shelves and not “bother to put them back in the same place,” creating a hurdle for would-be buyers.
The band also claims that Brummel signed their name without approval on a “manifesto” claiming they were in a war with hip-hop and R&B artists. As a result, many labeled the band as racist.
Brummel and Victory are also accused of “egregiously fraudulent accounting practices” in the suit, along with copyright/trademark infringement, fraud, invasion of privacy and interference with business relations.
Not surprisingly, neither Victory nor Brummel have commented on the suit as of yet.