Well, the hits just keep on coming for hidden Irish rock act U2 – it seems like pretending to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders isn’t always enough to deflect bad luck. In the wake of a massive tour postponement due to frontman Bono’s emergency back surgery, Spinner reported today that U2 bassist Adam Clayton is suing the band’s financial controller, Gaby Smyth, for alleged negligence.
Smyth “controls the band’s money and knows the intricacies of the group’s investments and holdings,” and, along with “two other accountants in his firm” were named in legal papers filed in Dublin’s High Court. While the accusations have not been made public, Spinner reports that “the case may have its roots in money management issues that surfaced during Clayton’s current High Court case against Carol Hawkins, the bassist’s former housekeeper, who allegedly defrauded him of up to €1.8million.”
“…the legal war just might rip the biggest band in the world apart, as the notion of the bassist taking on Smyth in court threatens to expose every financial detail of the band and its related companies.
“Smyth was responsible for moving the band’s publishing company to Holland in 2007 in a move that save the band millions on royalties it would have otherwise paid under Irish tax law. That decision in Ireland led to heavy criticism of Bono, who took earnings out of his homeland while encouraging the country to aid in anti-poverty initiatives.”
In a related story, Irish scientists are now hard at work, teaming up with various groups of musicologists, designers, and physicists from all over the world, in the hopes of constructing the world’s most miniscule and tiny violin for which the Irish people can play for the band later this year. It’s moment of hope and unity for the scientific nations across the world; kind of like that movie Contact, but, you know, not awful.
Smyth “controls the band’s money and knows the intricacies of the group’s investments and holdings,” and, along with “two other accountants in his firm” were named in legal papers filed in Dublin’s High Court. While the accusations have not been made public, Spinner reports that “the case may have its roots in money management issues that surfaced during Clayton’s current High Court case against Carol Hawkins, the bassist’s former housekeeper, who allegedly defrauded him of up to €1.8million.”
“…the legal war just might rip the biggest band in the world apart, as the notion of the bassist taking on Smyth in court threatens to expose every financial detail of the band and its related companies.
“Smyth was responsible for moving the band’s publishing company to Holland in 2007 in a move that save the band millions on royalties it would have otherwise paid under Irish tax law. That decision in Ireland led to heavy criticism of Bono, who took earnings out of his homeland while encouraging the country to aid in anti-poverty initiatives.”
In a related story, Irish scientists are now hard at work, teaming up with various groups of musicologists, designers, and physicists from all over the world, in the hopes of constructing the world’s most miniscule and tiny violin for which the Irish people can play for the band later this year. It’s moment of hope and unity for the scientific nations across the world; kind of like that movie Contact, but, you know, not awful.
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