U2 Drummer Loses Brazilian Lawsuit
Larry Mullen Jr and two others forced to pay promoter $480k in damages
U2's Larry Mullen Jr has lost a civil lawsuit against a promoter in Brazil after it was found that he falsley accused a promoter or not paying the band for a concert.
According to U2 fan sites atU2 and U2BR (Brazil), the case dates back to an interview Bono and Mullen Jr. did in 2000 with Brazilian media outlet O Globo. In the interview, Mullen Jr. said that Brazilian concert promoter Franco Bruni didn't pay the band for three concerts back in January 1998. A lawsuit was filed in 2003 and was resolved last week.
Spinner reports that three days after the article was published, however, it was revealed that Mullen Jr. was mistaken and Bruni HAD paid the band its concerts fees, although U2 were still owed "author's rights." As a result, Bruni launched the suit claiming damages, stating that he had paid U2 the full amount and possessed the documentation to prove it.
The ruling was apparently revealed on 18 Jan and made public Jan. 21 via a judicial website from Santa Catarina, Brazil, which stated that Bono was acquitted but found Mullen Jr., the Brazilian journalist Mario Marques Pereira Neto who conducted the interview, and Brazilian media company InfoGlobo guilty.
The three parties have reportedly been ordered to pay $800,000 ($480,000 US dollars) in damages.