A year after the court battle over Prince's estate was finally settled, the music legend's heirs are suddenly back in court again, fighting each other over allegations that some family members are trying to take unfair control.
The lawsuit, made public Wednesday (January 10) in Delaware court, amounts to a civil war between members of Prince Legacy LLC, one of two holding companies created to manage the star's $156 million estate. (Primary Wave, which owns the other half of the property, is not involved in the dispute.)
The case was filed by L. Lodell McMillan and Charles Spicer, two longtime friends of Prince who serve as managers for Prince Legacy, following allegations that four of Prince's family members improperly tried to force them out of the company. They say such a move not only violates the group's operating agreement, but would cause enormous damage to efforts to “preserve and protect Prince's legacy.”
“The defendants have no business and management experience, no experience in the music and entertainment industry, and no experience negotiating and managing high-level deals in the entertainment industry,” McMillan and Spicer wrote in the complaint, which they obtained Advertising sign. “They have a documented history of internal conflict. Based on the amount and complexity of work that Prince Legacy is involved with, they are simply not in a position to step in and manage his business.”
The lawsuit targets Prince's half-sisters Sharon Nelson and Noreen Nelsonas well as his niece Breanna Nelson and his nephew Allen Nelson. None of the defendants could be immediately located for comment, and attorneys who previously represented them did not return requests for comment.
If Sharon and Noreen “settle” and oust McMillan and Spicer, the lawsuit claims, “their interference and interference will make it impossible for Prince Legacy to continue in business and will cause irreparable harm to the Company's goodwill, existing relationships and revenue streams.”
Prince died of a fentanyl overdose in April 2016 at the age of 57. Although legendary for his tight control of intellectual property rights, the iconic artist died without a will, triggering a complex process known as probate in which courts decide how to break up a deceased person's estate. Six of Prince's half-siblings were named heirs, three of whom later sold their shares in Primary Wave.
The court case finally settled in August 2022, when the estate was officially split equally between Prince Legacy (owned by McMillan, Spicer and the rest of the heirs) and a similar company called Prince Oat Holdings LLC, which is wholly owned by Primary Wave. At the time, both sides vowed to work together to bring Prince's music and legacy to a new generation of music fans.
But according to Wednesday's lawsuit, tensions quickly rose at Prince Legacy behind closed doors. McMillan and Spicer, who were installed as directors of the company, claim that Sharon became “disgruntled” because they refused to comply with her “unreasonable demands” about the estate's operations and that she was “offended” that her actions were subject to approval from the rest of the company.
“For example, Sharon attempted (unsuccessfully) to replace the entire Paisley Park staff with people of her choosing and take over Paisley Park,” the lawsuit alleges, referring to Prince's famous Minnesota mansion. “Her requests for lavish events held at Paisley Park at the expense of Paisley Park were also denied.”
Breanna, meanwhile, was reportedly upset when similar attempts were rejected. Among other demands, the suit alleges that she attempted to “assign her son as an intern at Paisley Park in the marketing department” and make other key hires without consulting the company.
Instead of airing their grievances appropriately, McMillan and Spicer allege that Sharon and Breanna “harassed and disparaged” the two managers while demanding they resign. They say Sharon threatened to publish “false allegations” and sue them unless they quit.
Perhaps most notably, the lawsuit alleges that both women then tried to unilaterally sell their holding company shares to Primary Wave — a contentious issue that harks back to the years of messy litigation and negotiations it took to finally resolve her case property in the current 50 -50 structure.
In the lawsuit, McMillan and Spicer say such a sale could not be made without the unanimous consent of Prince Legacy members. Faced with that restriction, the lawsuit claims the heirs were trying to change the company's bylaws — both to remove McMillan and Spicer as trustees and to lower the threshold required to allow a member to sell the stock. of to a third party.
The suit seeks an immediate injunction, preventing any such changes from taking place on the grounds that they would leave the company “irreparably harmed” if allowed to proceed.
“The conduct of the individual defendants threatens Prince Legacy's myriad business ventures currently managed by McMillan and Spicer and threatens the Company's relationship with third parties and its leverage in negotiating these agreements,” the suit states.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/legal/prince-estate-lawsuit-heirs-attempting-seize-control-1235580400/
