Away Team

Back in august I posted a ‘What the Metal Fuck?!?!‘ about Judas Priest‘s frontman Rob Halford firing his manager right after said manager, John Baxter, posted some cryptic musings on some of Rob‘s websites. You can read the first story right here.

Then yesterday we saw this:
From RollingStone.com:
Rob Halford‘s longtime manager John Baxter has filed a lawsuit against Halford and other members of the band and its management team, alleging fraud, breach of contract and intentional interference with contractual relations – and asking for around $50 million in damages.

Baxter, who had been Halford‘s personal manager since 1982 until he was fired in August, claims he discovered in August that frontman Rob Halford owes him millions of dollars for contract breaches, including failure to pay commissions, salary and expenses dating back to 1992. He alleges that Halford actively misled him by saying that he was simply unable to fulfill his financial obligations to his manager, promising that he would pay Baxter when he was able.

On August 9th, Baxter was fired from his job as manager via a letter from a British law firm that reads, in part: “It has become clear over recent weeks that the relationships between our parties has run its course and that you are not acting in our clients’ best interests.” The letter also claims that Baxter, who lives in Arizona, withdrew his sponsorship of Halford‘s U.S. visa in order to prevent his entry into the country and that he posted cruel comments on Halford‘s official website, actions that “placed an intolerable strain upon our clients’ ability to maintain constructive and professional relations with the remaining members of Judas Priest and their representatives at this crucial time.”

Defendant Andrew Thompson, a British lawyer whose firm sent Baxter the termination letter, tells Rolling Stone via email that he never interfered, intentionally or otherwise, with the Halford and Baxter relationship. In the suit, Baxter claims that Thompson and the suit’s other defendants (who include Judas Priest manager Bill Curbishley and Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill) intentionally tried to interfere with the Baxter/Halford contractual relationship because they wanted to be Halford‘s global managers and to influence Halford‘s relationship with Judas Priest, his participation in the Judas Priest farewell tour and Halford‘s post-Judas Priest career.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rob-halfords-longtime-manager-suing-him-for-breach-of-contract-20111102#ixzz1ceWedPox
You can read the whole article right here.

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EDITOR’s NOTE:
Not one to say I told you so.. but… Ok, I am totally the one to say it, and I will say it here, I told you so. The last paragraph says it all. And it is exactly what I thought was happening back in August when Baxter posted all over Halford‘s websites. Curbishley and Co want Halford to themselves, and that is the stance Baxter is taking on this. I’m not saying he is right, and I’m not saying his lawsuit is valid, but it is all so very entertaining…

Can’t wait to see what Miss Jayne Andrews says about this as she was named as a defendant too!

You can follow along at JudasPriest.com yourself.

WTF is going on in the world of JUDAS PRIEST?

First we have this diatribe (that I had to go find on a Polish website because Metal Gods et al had taken it down already):

Dear Visitors of RH.com:
Metal God Entertainment, Metal God Records and its affiliated companies and web properties will begin removing Judas Priest related topics from its web sites in protest of Glenn Tipton (decision maker), Jayne Andrews (amateur thug for Glenn, can’t trust, leach), Bill Curbishley (apathetic leach) and John McBride (Unlicensed, Unregistered Accountant, leach) for lack of Professional and Ethical conduct as it relates to Rob Halford‘s business matters for much of the last six (6) years.
Rob will publicly deny the above, so we will take a seat next to K.K. Downing and watch how the Glenn and Jayne show plays out.
I’m sure you’ll read about the details of this matter more in future.
Regards,
John Baxter

For those that don’t know, John Baxter is Rob Halford‘s Manager. And SUPPOSEDLY this missive came straight from him, and was at one time posted on some of Rob Halford‘s websites.

So, in response to the above message, we get this from JudasPriest.com:
There has recently been some nonsense and propaganda posted on the internet including on Rob‘s website, regarding the band and management. (Rob currently is not controlling his website and absolutely does not agree with the comments)
We refuse to get drawn into any public arguments – it is below us and will be dealt with legally. The band have always jointly made any major decisions and have been with the same management team for over 25 years. Everyone knows and respects them in the music business and we have ultimate faith and trust in the way they have always guided us.
We are totally focused now on the Epitaph tour and the reactions every night have been incredible. The shows have been amazing and we’re having the time of our lives! Our intention now is to travel the world one last time and perform Judas Priest style Heavy Metal for all the fans out there. The mood and atmosphere in the band has never been better!
We have just completed the European/UK first leg of our world tour and now after a short break are going to South America and then the States – come along – join in and keep the Faith !!
ROB, GLENN, IAN, SCOTT & RICHIE

Let’s not forget K.K. Downing‘s post about his departure from Judas Priest:
“There has been an ongoing breakdown in [the] working relationship between myself, elements of the band, and the band’s management for some time. Therefore I have decided to step down rather than to tour with negative sentiments as I feel that this would be a deception to you, our cherished fans.”

Ok, so apparently Rob‘s personal manager has beef with K.K. and the Management team of Judas Priest. (Jayne works for Bill who is listed as their manager).

I’ve heard stories about her for years, none I can print, but trust they are pretty good, and do not paint fair Jayne in a good light.

But, don’t take my word for it. Read the press releases she puts out herself. They are HILARIOUS…

You can scour the Judaspriest.com news for her posts. Which I’ve always found a little odd, is their manager running their website? Is Judas Priest‘s manager K.K. Downing’s personal manager too? Is that not some kind of conflict of interest?

You don’t see Q-Prime running Metallica‘s website, or posting on Queensryche‘s website about quashing rumors or ‘setting the record‘ straight. Every second post by Jayne, and every press release we ever get from her is ‘setting the record straight‘ on something. Most press releases are about positive things, new single/album/video/show date, etc. But not hers, they are ensuring that everyone knows who she is, and that she is ‘currently with the band‘ at such and such a place, and oh, while I’m writing this, let me spew some negative crap, and ‘quash‘ this rumor.

Most bands, and most certainly their managers simply don’t dignify the rumors with a response. If there is no fuel, the fire dies. But not Jayne, she’s online ASAP running roughshod over everything to make sure no one has the wrong idea about her, or ‘the band‘.

Looking forward to how this plays out… and I’m hoping John Baxter is wrong and it isn’t all done behind closed lawyer doors.

For more JUDAS PRIEST (and more Jayne Andrews than you probably care for) click here.