Jane’s Addiction members Dave Navarro, Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins have hit lead singer Perry Farrell with a $10 million lawsuit, alleging his physical outburst on stage last year cost them their remaining tour dates and an album.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accuses Farrell of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract.
“The Band can no longer function as a result of the Defendant’s conduct, including his sudden, violent outbursts and demonstrated inability to serve as the Band’s frontman and vocalist,” states the complaint, obtained by Rolling Stone.
“The physical, emotional, and financial harms Defendant has wrought have deeply impacted the Plaintiffs, their families, and their loved ones, and it is time for Defendant to face the consequences of his actions and be held accountable,” the complaint adds.
Farrell’s attorneys told the Daily Beast in a statement that the lawsuit “is yet another clear example of the group uniting to isolate and bully” the frontman.
“The timing of this baseless lawsuit is no coincidence—it was filed only after they caught wind of legal action coming from our side,“ they said. “It’s a transparent attempt to control the narrative and present themselves as the so-called ‘good guys’—a move that’s both typical and predictable.”
The attorneys alleged that the band’s remaining tour dates last year were canceled after the group “released a defamatory and entirely unfounded statement about Perry’s mental health and unilaterally canceled the remaining tour dates without his input.” They added, “They’re once again scrambling to get ahead of the truth in a desperate effort to save face.”
Video from a show in Boston during the band’s reunion tour last September shows Farrell getting in Navarro’s face and throwing a punch. The show ended abruptly, but the confrontation continued backstage, according to the suit.
“Nobody could calm Perry down backstage,” the suit claims. “When Navarro confronted Perry about his violent outburst, Perry threw another unexpected punch at him, striking him on the left side of the face. Navarro was hurt.”
Afterwards, Navarro, Avery and Perkins issued a statement announcing the end of the tour, saying that their “concern for [Farrell’s] personal health and safety as well as our own has left us no alternative.”
The suit claims that in the days leading up to the incident, “Plaintiffs (and others in attendance) had observed during the Tour that Perry regularly appeared onstage in an advanced state of intoxication.”
The band’s attorney, Christopher Frost, told the Daily Beast in a statement that Farrell “abruptly and unilaterally ended all the plans for a Jane’s Addiction revival.”
Frost added: “He also left his bandmates holding the bag for an unfulfilled tour and record deal, as our lawsuit explains in detail. Dave, Eric, and Stephen never wanted it to come to this. But they have been wronged, want the accurate story told, and they deserve a resolution.”
Farrell went on to apologize last year for the incident in a statement, reflecting on the performance as “incredibly difficult.”
He added, “After having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show. Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”
Farell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, offered her take on what may have sparked her husband’s outburst.
“Perry’s frustration had been mounting, night after night, he felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Perry had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat every night,” continued Etty Lau, whose presence as an on-stage dancer at their shows had caused discord in the band, according to the suit.
“But when the audience in the first row, started complaining up to Perry cussing at him that the band was planning [sic] too loud and that they couldn’t hear him, Perry lost it,” she wrote.
The incident appears to be the final blow for the alt-rock band. Navarro told Guitar Player in May that there’s “no chance” they’ll play together again.
Farrell and Avery founded the band in Los Angeles in 1985, with Navarro and Perkins joining the following year.
