Coldplay have launched a £14million lawsuit against their former manager David Holmes.
David, who looked after the band for 22 years, sued the group over the summer for £10million in “unpaid commission”.
According to High Court documents obtained by The Times, Coldplay have since hit back against David’s case with a claim of their own – accusing him of allowing the costs of their Music of the Spheres world tour to spiral out of control.
The British group, which is fronted by singer Chris Martin, have accused their ex manager “failing adequately to supervise and control the tour budget at all times” – with expensive equipment ordered or bought that was not fit for purpose.
This allegedly included a $9.7 million (£8 million) video screen that was so big it could not be brought on tour, and sixteen bespoke stage pylons costing €10.6 million (£9 million) – which were later deemed to be unusable.
The court docs claim that “had Mr Holmes exercised reasonable care and skill in the performance of his obligations”, the band would not have incurred costs of at least £17.5 million.
Coldplay have also claimed David obtained loans totalling $30 million (£24.6 million) from concert promoters Live Nation, using his position as their manager as leverage.
The docs read: “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 added that the debt could have affected David’s ability to negotiate favourable terms for their tour – which is coming to Dublin’s Croke Park next August.
In a statement shared with The Times, a spokesperson for David said: “Coldplay know they are in trouble with their defence.”
“Accusing Dave Holmes of non-existent 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”.
A Live Nation spokesperson said the company “has a strong and longstanding relationship with Coldplay, adding that “any past dealings with their management team were considered an extension of this relationship”.
David managed Coldplay for over 22 years, before he was dismissed in 2022.
According to the legal filing, he was let go by the band despite having agreed to extend his contract to aid with their tenth and eleventh albums and beginning preparations for their 2024-25 tours.
Coldplay are claiming they never agreed to the extended contract and are allegedly refusing to pay him for the work he contributed to the album and tour preparations.
