U2 Sues Former Stylist

[DayGloJo]

I'm posting the text to this article, because I've been having problems links to Yahoo! news recently. You can find the original story on the Music Page on Yahoo! New's Entertainment Page.

DayGloJo

U2's Souvenir Suit
By Josh Grossberg

U2 has found what it's looking for--and wants the stuff back.

The Irish rockers are suing their former hairstylist to try and recover some gear they say she took without authorization while working on their 1987 Joshua Tree world tour.

Taking time out from the current Vertigo trek, which is conveniently playing a three-night stand in the band's hometown of Dublin, frontman Bono and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. turned up in court Tuesday to explain why Lola Cashman should be prevented from selling band memorabilia she claims was given to her.

Bono wants Cashman to return his trademark Stetson, which he sported in many of the band's classic 1980s video clips, including "With or Without You" and the 1988 concert film, Rattle and Hum. The band also wants back a sweatshirt, trousers, earrings and 200 Polaroids from the era. The cache is valued at about $6,000.

"They sound like trivial items, they're really not. They are important items to the group and we take them seriously," Bono, foregoing his usual black leather jacket for a snappy suit and tie, told the Dublin Circuit Civil Court.

The 44-year-old singer said the band's lawsuit was triggered by Cashman's attempts to auction the items in 2002. The band put the kibosh on the auction and went to court seeking return of the goods. Cashman retaliated with a defamation of character lawsuit.

"You may have wealth and power, but when someone is trying to push us around...at a certain point you have to say, 'Stop right there,' " Bono said. He also denied the band was trying to persecute Cashman because of a tell-all she published last year, Inside the Zoo with U2: My Life with the World's Biggest Rock Band.

While Cashman has insisted the band gave her the items as mementos, Bono said it wasn't the band's policy.

"The stylists would never have asked for them and the band would never have given them," he told the court. Even though the road crew grew to dislike Cashman ("Almost every single person on the tour wanted her off the tour," he said), Bono said he thought she had a good eye and tried to keep her on. She eventually left after a protracted contract renegotiation.

Particularly irksome for Bono was Cashman's attempts to sell his cowboy hat, which he deemed iconic and fit for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"It would be like the Edge giving one of his guitars away. It is not something which will happen," he said.

When Cashman's lawyer, Hugh Hartnett, tried to suggest that those statements were overblown and the band was still too early in its career to be considered iconic , Bono retorted: "Oh no, we had delusions of grandeur from the very beginning."

Cashman took the stand after Bono departed and told the judge she spent two years working for U2 in the late 1980s, overhauling the quartet's image (making it more "raunchy," per Bono's request) and helping establishing the band's look during its rise to superstardom. She said that U2 never once lodged a complaint with her regarding taking any of their possessions without their permission. She admitted shipping the souvenirs in question from Arizona to her London home.

A former assistant stylist and a wardrobe assistant also testified that they had not been given any memorabilia.

Judge Max Deery is expected to rule on July 5.

After the trio of Dublin gigs this week, U2 will be one of the headliners at Saturday's Live 8 concert in London.

[MARV]

I don't know. I would let it go. She got these things some twenty years ago and no one said she stole them. They're hers and she can do what she wants with them. U2 piss $6,000 away and claims that these items are Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame worthy are highly subjective and hardly worth the time of any legal court. I mean honestly, for Bono to be so openly flippant in court underscores the lunacy of the whole situation.

[DayGloJo]

Marv,

I agree this is ridiculous. U2 will probably end up spending more in legal fees than the orignal worth of the items & other expenses involved. Probably the only winners here will be the lawyers. [:(]

DayGloJo

[n/a5]

I knew this would quickly turn into a post that would act like a giant magnet and pull in all the U2 haters out there. I know all of you say you liked them up until the WAR album.....jump on the bandwagon. Everyone complains that their music was never popular and never played on the radio and then all of a sudden when one of their favorites hits it big you despise them! Same thing happened with Billy Idol, The Clash, The Alarm...etc.

Now on to this so called trivial lawsuit. U2 have had loads of things stolen from them since their early days of playing clubs in Dublin. Heck the October album had to be completely restarted because someone took demos and all the original lyrics and chords from their studio. Fast forward to the latest album and the same thing happened again (just the mastering discs for the CD though). They finally caught someone who stole from them and want to prove a point: If we catch you we will sue you! Now they are not morons and realize that the lawyer fees will cost more than $6000 but it is the principle of the thing. And how do they know what she stole is only $6,000.....if a cheese sandwhich with jesus on it can sell for whatver it sold for on E-Bay I am sure their is some lunatic willing to part $6,000 just for the hat in question.

Just because these guys are big rock stars does that mean that they should let someone steal from them? Let it go? They employ her and she goes and writes a tell all book...I would give up both my balls, 1 kidney, an eyeball and my first born (on days when she she is nagging me to buy her yet another toy) to have the opportunity to work with U2 and this b*tch repays that by using their hard work and the confidence they had in her to make money...??? OK so I reconcile it by saying "we live in a socirty that promotes free speech" so I don't organize a mass burning of the book and just file it my "books I am never going to read pile" along with every Michael Moore book. I digress.....She made loads off it I am sure! Now they should let her sell their personal stuff????? Guys get a grip...stop looking at the fact that they are rich rock stars that you now despise just because they became successful and put things into perspective. She stole their stuff...they want it back. PERIOD!

DISCLAIMER - the body parts and first born thing is a joke[;)]

[MARV]

Um Nero, I never said that I hate, despise or even dislike U2. And the fact that they're millionaires has nothing to do with how I feel about their lawsuit. And no where does it say that these items were stolen.

Look, I work in the fashion industry. I know stylists and have been to photo shoots. A hat, sweatshirt, trousers and earrings are among the many items a stylist may bring to work if they think that's what their subjects will look good in. For all we know they may actually be hers. And as far as the 200 Polaroids go, well that's just another part of what a stylist will do to test or archive the different looks of the models. It's like when I as a designer make some sketches. I don't have to deliver them to my client with the finished product. For them to come back after 20 years to demand them is pretty silly. Maybe they should have had an agreement at the time to surrender all these items.

[n/a5]

Interesting angle M&M....with the bringing the props and photos thing....still if they prove it is their's then she should give it back. If it is as you say it is then cool!

But don't worry my Strong Island friend....at least we agree that WLIR was the damn best staion on the planet!

[MARV]

Ha, ha, this is true! LIR owned and ruled like no other radio station ever has! And know this my friend: I do own all of U2's albums [;)]

[golfer]

Just goes to show how much of a dickhead Bono really is!!!

[MARV]

I read in July's issue of Entertainment Weekly that U2 have found what they're looking for. According to the BBC, on July 5, a Dublin court ordered Lola Cashman to return all memorabilia that the band claims she stole. Cashman's reps could not be reached for comment.....

And there you have it folks, case closed.

:::::::::: |-o-| (-o-) |-o-| ::::::::::

[Randall Roq]

Before you preach to people about how they conduct themselves you better make sure your own closet is clean. Otherwise you just look like a hypocrite.

Bono needs to shut up about politics and just sing.

"It's not what you are that counts it's what people think you are".

Joseph Kennedy

[ghosty]

Waitaminit! U2 have a stylist???? You coulda fooled me. I thought all guys going through a mid-life crisis don sunglasses and leather in some feeble attempt to look "cool".[8D]

[JeffK]

Bono wants his mullet back!

[MARV]

Seems that last year's court ruling was by Dublin's [i]Lower Court[/i]. Apparently Dublin's [i]High Court [/i] concurs:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wir ... SFeeds0312

<a href="http://marvymarv.multiply.com/">[i]You on the guestlist?[/i]</a>

[rotator]

I agree ---she's had this shit for 20 years....Bonos making a stink cos she pissed him off....and no, I'm not a U2 hater...well, except for Rattle and Hum....

[stranded]

I second what marvymarv says about stylists...it's their job and they need and keep polaroids for continuity reasons.I ended up with some polaroids,photos and a hat from a David Bowie Shoot in the 80's.I sold the hat and kept the photos.
And I agree with what Randall Roq... Bono needs to shutup and sing. I saw them 2 weeks ago here in Sydney and it felt like he spent half the concert talking about politics which became very boring to the point of me going to the bar and having a beer.I've been to the last four tours and this was by far the worst.I don't think I go back in a hurry and see them in the future.
Having said that I worked with U2 and met Bono just the other week.They were doing a political motivated television commercial for British television. I briefly spoke to him.. but it's funny how your perception of someone changes after meeting them.Apart from just meeting BONO I walked away thinking he's not a bad guy after all.