The iconic Mojave Desert music venue, Pappy + Harriet, is currently involved in an ongoing legal dispute between ex-partners who purchased the venue in 2021 and its investment group. The ex-partners of the restaurant and concert venue, JB Moresco and Lisa Elin, are being sued for allegedly seizing the business from an investment group.
After reviewing a set of emails, Billboard reported that Moresco had allegedly solicited a $2.5 million investment from Morgan Margolis’ Knitting Factory Entertainment, and bought a stake in the venue – gaining exclusive rights to Pappy + Harriet. Two months later, Moresco allegedly seized the property for himself and canceled a concert series, Desert Daze Deconstructed, that was previously booked for the venue.
After months of confusion between the couple and investors where the former allegedly continuously canceled shows and allegedly attempted to fire members of Pappy + Harriet’s team, investors voted to fire Moresco and Elin on June 18. However, since then the couple have allegedly locked investors out of business accounts, and canceled pre-existing concert bookings at the venue.
The lawsuit claims that the duo’s actions have allegedly cost Margolis “hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue.”
Thus far, 17 total declarations of allegedly angering locals and guests at Pappy + Harriet have been collected for Margolis to use against Moresco and Elin.
Still, Moresco’s attorneys remain hopeful that their team will prevail in court.
They said in a statement, “The plaintiffs have not won a single part of a ruling in any hearing in this case. They are losers and so is their case.” They continued to call the lawsuit “a case study in malicious prosecution” and “frivolous and nothing more than an unethical attempt to bully and defame the owners of Pappy and Harriet’s.”
In 1946 Pappy + Harriet was originally intended to be the set of a Western-style movie, and was used in over 50 films and television series, including The Cisco Kid and Judge Roy Bean. It was purchased in 1972 and turned into a cantina and became a hot-spot for local residents and artists across the globe. Over the years, iconic artists like Paul McCartney and Lorde have performed at the venue.
The hearing to exclude Moresco and Elin from Pappy + Harriet will take place in July.
Photo Credit: Mehreen Rizvi
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