Kat Benzova sues GNR/Fernando for copyright infringement and sexual harassment

[invisible_rose]

6 minutes ago, Lio said:

True, but that's how it always is. If I see any headlines like that, I try to read up more, because you know it's often not what it seems. But I'm sure most people don't bother and think: General asshole and misogynist Axl is at it again.

I don't think Axl's misogny is directly related, but him being a giant, controlling asshole very much is. I have no trouble believing that he is a large part of the cause around ownership, credit etc etc. I don't see how Axl can be linked to the sexual advances of Fernando. 

[DoMw94]

48 minutes ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

i dont think so since her pictures of other bands were mostly black n white as well

I've never understood this argument. Yes, she does a lot of black and white, but she probably does more colour ones. There are a lot of examples of her work in colour.

There were more colour pictures posted on the band accounts during NITL than black and white, too.

Meegan, while not the band's official photographer, is one doing mosty black and white.

[allwaystired]

7 minutes ago, invisible_rose said:

I don't think Axl's misogny is directly related, but him being a giant, controlling asshole very much is. I have no trouble believing that he is a large part of the cause around ownership, credit etc etc. I don't see how Axl can be linked to the sexual advances of Fernando. 

Oh, it absolutely can't.....but our point is these headlines and this attention mean the whole band is tarnished with the same brush. 

I don't know quite what they should do at this stage. Silence is probably the best and most realistic option (maybe the only option too), but I would imagine there is a whole lot of shit going on as we type. 

[Avillart]

13 hours ago, meadsoap said:

Counterpoint... when has GN'R (or Axl specifically) ever cared about bad publicity? The threat of bad press has never persuaded Axl to do anything in his life, ever. If it did, Axl's whole career would have been completely different.

Fernando will stay. Whether it's the right thing to do or not, it's a forgone conclusion.

 

I think so too. Plus, over the years Axl has become so close and also dependent on the family that it would be hard for him to let them (or just Fernando) go at this point. I got to meet and spend some time with them this summer and one of the first things that Beta said to me was, "Where I am, there is Axl." 

She (just like Fernando) was very sweet and open towards me and talked to me like to an old friend, I was almost a bit shocked as I had only heard bad things from fans about them, but she made it quite clear what her/their status is in his life.

When we hugged I noticed that her body went kind of "limp", something that happens when people are insecure. Which made me like her (and contradict the picture I had of her from fans) cause it was a genuine reaction. Body language doesn't lie. And the same way I got to know Fernando. From pictures and what I knew from fans I would've thought he was a sewer rat but he was very warm and welcoming and talkative towards me. Even helped me adjusting my phone. His energy was rather slow and laid back, he had nothing aggressive about him. Quite the contrary. 

I don't know Kat Benzova and I don't know anything about the whole circus. I met Axl and was in the MJ video Slash was in with Gilby in the early 90's but after '93 I was not following anything GNR so I had no insight until I met them all again this summer but I don't think this story will have any big impact. I've recently been involved in investigations of allegations against a high profile public person and in his case it's mutiple women who have come forward and even he feels safe cause the whole MeToo movement has turned allegations of that nature into some "trend" and the majority of the public don't really take them serious anymore. And in this case, from what I understand, GNR have sued KB first, which doesn't make her look too credible, I'm afraid but who knows. Time will tell. My take is just that Axl won't let Fernando go. Who knows, there might even be some brainwash at play which allows them to control him. I remember a Tweet by Doug Goldstein where he hinted to TB having hired someone to curse Axl or something. I don't know the details but yeah, I agree that Fernando will stay. They are the only family he knows, whether we like it or not. 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Avillart

[Rindmelon]

 

Logged

jarmo If you're reading this, you've just wasted valuable time! Administrator Legend Karma: 9  Offline Gender:  Posts: 38694   "You're an idiot" Re: GNR Sued « Reply #12 on: Today at 04:50:16 AM »   Quote from: ItsoEezee on Today at 02:55:12 AM Quote from: cineater on Yesterday at 10:29:30 PM Hold on another story says Jarmo wasn't treated the same way. Correct.  Per the plaintiff's filing: "1122. Lebeis’s discriminatory intent- manifested through his habitual stonewalling of Plaintiff to deny utilization of written contracts and his use of photo credit as means to sexually extort Plaintiff-is further buttressed by the fact that another photographer, named Jarmo, a male Finnish photographer who also worked with GNR/GUNDAM/TEAM BRAZIL was not treated in the same regard as Benzova and was allowed credit for his photographs." True. I didn't travel with the band most of the time or stay in their hotels. Never have I considered myself GN'R's tour photographer either. I took photos for fun. /jarmo

Edited November 15, 2023 by Rindmelon

[DoMw94]

I wouldn't be quick to judge and assume when it comes to Axl. Remember when his lawyers went after Dr. Pepper and he had to step in to say it was a "non issue".

Axl is one cog in a big machine. Admittedly a big cog, but there will be heavy-handed people acting in what they believe to be his best interests and for all we know, he might be non the wiser.

I'm not talking about knowledge of certain situations here, I'm more talking about legal and commercial matters.

[allwaystired]

4 minutes ago, Avillart said:

 

I think so too. Plus, over the years Axl has become so close and also dependent on the family that it would be hard for him to let them (or just Fernando) go at this point. I got to meet and spend some time with them this summer and one of the first things that Beta said to me was, "Where I am, there is Axl." 

She (just like Fernando) was very sweet and open towards me and talked to me like to an old friend, I was almost a bit shocked as I had only heard bad things from fans about them, but she made it quite clear what her/their status in his life. 

When we hugged I noticed that her body went kind of "limp", something that happens when people are insecure. Which made me like her (and contradict the picture I had of her from fans) cause it was a genuine reaction. Body language doesn't lie. And the same way I got to know Fernando. From pictures and what I knew from fans I would've thought he was a sewer rat but he was very warm and welcoming and talkative towards me. Even helped me adjusting my phone. His energy was rather slow and laid back, he had nothing aggressive about him. Quite the contrary. 

I don't know Kat Benzova and I don't know anything about the whole circus. I met Axl and was in the MJ video Slash was in with Gilby in the early 90's but after '93 I was not following anything GNR so I had no insight until I met them all again this summer but I don't think this story will have any big impact. I've recently been involved in investigations of allegations against a high profile public person and in his case it's mutiple women who have come forward and even he feels safe cause the whole MeToo movement has turned allegations of that nature into some "trend" and the majority of the public don't really take them serious anymore. And in this case, from what I understand, GNR have sued KB first, which doesn't make her look too credible, I'm afraid but who knows. Time will tell. My take is just that Axl won't let Fernando go. Who knows, there might even be some brainwash at play which allows them to control him. I remember a Tweet by Doug Goldstein where he hinted to TB having hired someone to curse Axl or something. I don't know the details but yeah, I agree that Fernando will stay. They are the only family he knows, whether we like it or not. 

"Where I am, there is Axl" is a seriously creepy thing to say. 

[Uncle Bob]

What's up @Fernando? I just hope this t̴u̴r̴n̴s̴ cheers you up!

 

 

[invisible_rose]

11 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

Oh, it absolutely can't.....but our point is these headlines and this attention mean the whole band is tarnished with the same brush. 

I don't know quite what they should do at this stage. Silence is probably the best and most realistic option (maybe the only option too), but I would imagine there is a whole lot of shit going on as we type. 

I do agree the potential headlines don't look great. But if it isn't directly against a band member, I'd assume it'll wash over pretty quickly. Worst case is they lose a million dollars or so, and get some bad PR. Fernando is pretty untouchable I suspect. No doubt he'll go down the route of complete denial. 

 

[allwaystired]

3 minutes ago, invisible_rose said:

I do agree the potential headlines don't look great. But if it isn't directly against a band member, I'd assume it'll wash over pretty quickly. Worst case is they lose a million dollars or so, and get some bad PR. Fernando is pretty untouchable I suspect. No doubt he'll go down the route of complete denial. 

 

Yeah, you're probably right. It will likely end up one of those situations where we'll never really know the truth - some sort of financial settlement will be made and the whole thing brushed under the carpet. 

[DeNfr]

they'll buy her. and since there's no sexual agression, she'll agree. Axl is very loyal, and it touches what
he considers his family but he's well placed to know what sexual harassment and abuse is.
that's a conscience case. but I don't see him firing Fernando, unless he's forced by the others.
it would be like devastating to his own family relationship, right?

looks very very bad.

[Lio]

Fernando will have to go from the public eye at least. I hear everyone saying of course his family won't drop him, but surely it must have some consequence? I would never drop my children, but if they've done something so wrong, there will have to be consequences. He obviously has problems. It's great that Axl is so loyal. Sadly, the same can't be said of Fernando. If he was loyal, he wouldn't do all that crap to endanger the whole 'family business' as he sees it. Even if he denies all the sexual harrassment or makes it into some consensual thing, fact remains he was at least way in over his head on the business side. He's not fit to manage GNR. Axl and Beta should have known that.

I wonder how Vanessa feels about it all. I hope they at least are the happy little family she portrays in social media. She seems to steer clear of all the drama and seems to be doing well as Axl's assistant who's always around. 

[Stay.Of.Execution]

A part of the problem why Fernando developed such a god complex is how some fans have tried sucking up to him throughout the years and treated him like celeb. Just one example: last year people got wind that TB and some other crew members were dining out in a restaurant in Milan, rushed to said restaurant, went in and took pictures and asked for autographs of the TB members. I was so ashamed of those fans. 

I can't imagine any other big band's manager trying to be in the spotlight like Fernando and having Fans treating him like he is some kind of superstar.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Stay.Of.Execution

[Ratam]

1 hour ago, ZODIAC said:

Don't know if it was mentioned before. But I was wondering, how Richards and Fernandos relationship is affected by that, as he and Kat were a couple a few years ago... 

Call my attention if Kat never commented it to Richard.

[Sweersa]

I may have missed it, but how is Richard involved in this?

[Rovim]

if true, disgusting and Fernando is a much worse human than I initially believed he was. In any case, I hope he no longer will be a part of Gn'R's management team. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if Kat is telling the truth.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Rovim

[Ratam]

1 hour ago, allwaystired said:

"Where I am, there is Axl" is a seriously creepy thing to say. 

This, it show she is "happy" that Axl is under she control.

[Sweersa]

2 hours ago, Towelie said:

Why does the lawsuit look like it was written by a 12yr old? Aren't lawyers supposed to he clever?

God, even a lawsuit against the Lebeis family is incompetent and unprofessional.

 

I noticed that too, highly unusual for a legal document. 

[Ratam]

5 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

I may have missed it, but how is Richard involved in this?

He was Kat couple.

[thomase]

8 hours ago, Top-Hatted One said:

Why would Kat do that? It would ruin her partnership with Aerosmith and AC/DC. She would be unemployed with zero chance of ever working with bands again.

have you ever thought kat hating Fernando and made the whole thing up and plus this happen in 2016 why now if i was being sexual harass i would file a lawsuit in the same year not waiting few years later

[DownUnderScott]

9 hours ago, W. Axl Kev said:

When you're a band who solely tours, what is the difference?

I've met Del a few times, most recently last year at a small bar when he came to watch a mate's band play (My mate is a great friend of his). He is the tour manager and handles all the logistical stuff of which there are numerous things that all must go well for a tour to be successful. Del seems to be a genuine and nice guy. Zero ego. 

There would be other managers too, financial managers, marketing managers perhaps, and each of Axl (Guns N' Roses), Duff and Slash have their own individual management. Fernando was the General Manager of Gn'R, so depending on the Business model/structure of Gn'R, he probably has a lot of power and sits above most.  I always thought it was a strange appointment though, to appoint a nobody as the GM of one of the biggest bands of all time. Obviously Beta had a bit to do with that. Axl seemed to be passive about it when he talked briefly about it on that tv interview years ago. 

Edited November 15, 2023 by DownUnderScott

[Ratam]

6 minutes ago, Rovim said:

if true, disgusting and Fernando is a much worse human than I initially believed he was. In any case, I hope he no longer will be a part of Gn'R's management team. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if Kat is telling the truth.

You avatar is tribute to Fernando? 

[HollyWoodRose84]

19 minutes ago, Lio said:

Fernando will have to go from the public eye at least. I hear everyone saying of course his family won't drop him, but surely it must have some consequence? I would never drop my children, but if they've done something so wrong, there will have to be consequences. He obviously has problems. It's great that Axl is so loyal. Sadly, the same can't be said of Fernando. If he was loyal, he wouldn't do all that crap to endanger the whole 'family business' as he sees it. Even if he denies all the sexual harrassment or makes it into some consensual thing, fact remains he was at least way in over his head on the business side. He's not fit to manage GNR. Axl and Beta should have known that.

I wonder how Vanessa feels about it all. I hope they at least are the happy little family she portrays in social media. She seems to steer clear of all the drama and seems to be doing well as Axl's assistant who's always around. 

The average person/Guns fan has no idea who Fernando is. They also have no idea that a Brazilian family is essentially controlling all things Guns related. 
 

They’re going to stick together. They’re going to fight this and it’s going to be settled before it even gets to court. 

[Sweersa]

2 minutes ago, Ratam said:

He was Kat couple.

Richard Fortus was dating Kat? Sorry if I misunderstood. I thought Richard was married.

[Stay.Of.Execution]

2 minutes ago, thomase said:

have you ever thought kat hating Fernando and made the whole thing up and plus this happen in 2016 why now if i was being sexual harass i would file a lawsuit in the same year not waiting few years later

You lack of skills of the english language and your location being tennessee just add up perfectly.