Coldplay have filed a countersuit against their ex-manager over the costs of touring.
According to court documents obtained by The Irish Times on Monday, former Coldplay manager Dave Holmes sued the band in August for £10 million ($12.25 million) in “unpaid commission” from two not-yet-released albums.
A new countersuit from the band has rejected Holmes’ claim and sued the manager for £14 million ($17.15 million) in damages, alleging that Holmes allowed tour costs to snowball and used his relationship with Coldplay to secure loans from promoter Live Nation totalling £24.6 million ($30 million).
“To the best of (our) knowledge… Mr Holmes used monies obtained by the loan agreements to fund a property development venture in or around Vancouver, Canada,” the band alleged in the documents. “It is to be inferred that Mr Holmes was only able to acquire loans totalling $30m at a fixed annual interest rate of 2.72 percent from Live Nation by virtue of his position as Coldplay’s manager.”
Holmes managed the band from 2005 to 2022, during which time he reportedly failed to supervise the touring budget. The legal documents recalled the manager purchasing expensive equipment which was not fit for purpose, including a £7.9 million ($9.7 million) video screen too big to bring on tour and 16 bespoke pylons which cost £9 million ($11 million) and were found to be unusable.
“Coldplay know they are in trouble with their defence,” a spokesperson for Holmes responded to the countersuit in a statement. “Accusing Dave Holmes of nonexistent ethical lapses and other made-up misconduct will not deflect from the real issue at hand – Coldplay had a contract with Dave, they are refusing to honour it and they need to pay Dave what they owe him.”
The band is made up of singer Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion.
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE.com’s newest interviews and special features on YOUTUBE and updated regularly. See things first SUBSCRIBE here: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE
