Coldplay filed an alleged multi-million dollar lawsuit against their former manager, U.K. publication The Times reports. Last August, David Holmes, who managed the band for 22 years, allegedly sued Coldplay for £10 million in allegedly unpaid commission. The group is now issuing a counter-lawsuit for an alleged £14 million in damages.
The British band stated that Holmes allegedly did not manage the touring budget and allegedly allowed their own touring costs to skyrocket exponentially, which included an alleged £7.9 million ($9.7 million) video screen that was too big to be brought on tour as well as 16 bespoke stage pylons totaling an alleged £9 million ($11 million).
They also claimed that Holmes allegedly used his partnership with them to get £24.6 million (or $30 million) in loans from Live Nation. “To the best of [our] knowledge, Mr Holmes used monies obtained by the loan agreements to fund a property development venture in or around Vancouver, Canada,” they wrote in court documents obtained by The Times. “It is to be inferred, that Mr Holmes was only able to acquire loans totaling $30m at a fixed annual interest rate of 2.72% from Live Nation by his position as Coldplay’s manager.”
“Coldplay know they are in trouble with their defense,” a spokesperson for Holmes told The Times. “Accusing Dave Holmes of nonexistent ethical lapses and other made-up misconduct will not deflect from the real issue at hand – Coldplay had a contract with Dave, they are refusing to honor it and they need to pay Dave what they owe him.”