U2 Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. Loses Half-Million-Dollar Brazilian Lawsuit
* Posted on Jan 26th 2011 1:30PM by Jason MacNeil
Kevin Winter, Getty Images
Although not confirmed by the band or its management, it appears that U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. has lost a civil lawsuit in a Brazilian court.
He has been ordered along with two others named in the suit to pay $800,000 in Brazilian real, which equates to approximately $480,000 US in damages.
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 concerts back in January 1998 — one in Rio De Janeiro and a two-night stand in Sao Paulo — which were part of the group’s PopMart world tour.
However, it appears Mullen Jr. was mistaken.
Three days after the Nov. 23, 2000 article was published, it was revealed that Mullen Jr. was mistaken and Bruni had indeed paid the band its concerts fees, although U2 were still owed “author’s rights.” As a result, Bruni launched the suit claiming damages, stating, he paid U2 the full amount and possessed the documentation to prove it. Bruni also said the situation regarding “author’s rights” was out of his hands.
Watch U2 Perform In Sao Paulo
The ruling on the matter was reportedly issued Jan. 18 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. Bono’s legal name, Paul David Hewson, is also included in the suit.
An English translation of the original ruling in Portuguese provides more information and orders the defendants to pay $800,000. The case began in February of 2003 and continued with various actions and orders on a regular basis from 2005 through to June 2010.
U2 are still touring behind their latest album ‘No Line on the Horizon’ as part of their 360 world tour. The band will return to Brazil for a three-night stand in Sao Paolo in April before hitting North America again this summer, playing rescheduled dates which were postponed last summer.
