Vicky Cornell is facing accusation from her late husband's Soundgarden bandmates that she misused the money raised for charity for her personal purposes.
- May 7, 2020
AceShowbiz - Soundgarden have countersued Chris Cornell's widow Vicky for "fraudulent inducement," claiming she used money raised, intended for charity for "personal purposes for herself and her family."
The surviving members of the rock group - Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, and Ben Shepherd - filed their lawsuit against Vicky and Cornell's estate at the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida, Miami, on Wednesday, May 6, 2020.
In the papers, the trio claim they had made an "oral agreement" with Vicky to perform for free at "I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell" tribute concert in January 2019 - with the intention that the money raised from the event would go to The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation.
However, they go on to allege that while the concert "is believed to have raised many millions of dollars," "Vicky Cornell did not have the intention of using some or all of the revenue from the Cornell Concert for charitable purposes, but rather for personal purposes for herself and her family."
The band members also claim that Vicky knew her charitable "representation was false, or exhibited recklessness and negligence as to its truth or falsity, for the purpose and intent of inducing Soundgarden into agreeing to perform at the Cornell Concert without compensation."
Soundgarden is said to have suffered "damages" and "reputational harm" as a result of her actions.
Elsewhere in the lawsuit, the musicians also respond to Vicky's initial lawsuit, filed in 2019, in which she claimed Soundgarden have been withholding royalties from her over seven unreleased recordings her husband made before his 2017 death.
"The Complaint is an offensive recitation of false allegations and accusations. Soundgarden categorically denies every material contention lobbed by Vicky Cornell, who filed her Complaint - rashly and without good cause - with the true purpose of extorting Soundgarden into conceding rights to which she is not legally entitled, and of coercing Soundgarden to prematurely distribute Soundgarden funds to her," Soundgarden state in the new papers.
"This legal action by Vicky Cornell is lamentable, preventable, and spurious."
Soundgarden is asking for "compensatory and general damages in an amount to be proven at trial" in addition to "injunctions and declarations related to copyright and other ownership claims, punitive and exemplary damages."
Responding to the latest legal action on her Twitter page, Vicky wrote on Wednesday night, "You were so wrong to think you'd silence me by lies, intimidation and fear. That you might break me because its a gutwrenching time. He is always with me and you can't change the truth by lying and for what to stir up crazies and legitimise them while attacking CC's legacy..."
