Learn about the legal battles of these music stars

Sometimes, music stars need to take some time away from creating art so they can face the consequences of their actions, or defend themselves in the case of wrongful accusations. Often, these accusations are coming straight from the people who are keeping them in business, and that makes things more complicated. Here are some of the more interesting times celebrities were sued by fans.

Jon Bon Jovi

Plagiarism is a pretty serious offense you do not want to be accused of. If you are a college student, you can suffer punishment as severe as being expelled from your institution. However, if you are a talented and popular artist like Jon Bon Jovi, punishments can go as high as $50,000 when regarded as a misdemeanor, and if it’s considered to be a greater offense, punishments can go much higher than that. 

Therefore, when the massively successful singer of the 80s – who is still putting out incredible music by the way- got hit with a lawsuit for this exact reason by a guy called Samuel Bartley Steele, you can imagine he was shocked. This individual put forward that the rock star’s 2007 song, “I Love This Town” was nothing more than a blatant rip-off of his tribute song to the Boston Red Sox; said song was titled “Man I Really Love This Team”. Reportedly, Steele believed he should be reimbursed a simple $400 billion for his troubles, a number he came to by asking for $100,000 per CD the band sold. It’s nothing too crazy, right?

In the end though, Steele never got his money, as despite his best efforts the court ruled against him, and Bon Jovi avoided bankruptcy. Maybe next time he can focus on securing a couple of thousands instead of asking for enough money to send 20 generations to college. 

Lil’ Wayne

Can you imagine the look on the Judge’s face when they read “smashed their head with a skateboard” on their case files? In what seems like an incident straight out of a slapstick comedy cartoon, Lil’ Wayne found himself in deep trouble for being indirectly responsible for what could have ended with the death of a fan. This fan’s name was Alfred Marino, and he was angry with the popular rapper’s bodyguard.

Back in May of 2012, Marino discovered that his favorite artist was inside a Los Angeles shop he was also visiting, and he decided that he wanted a picture to commemorate their meeting. In contrast to Marino, Lil’ Wayne wasn’t too stoked about being photographed in public, something that I am sure he gets more than enough of. Understandably, the fan was asked to refrain from taking pictures and to put his phone back in his pocket, but he refused.

The crazy part is that Marino alleged that one of the rapper’s bodyguards decided to go on and slam the back of the fan’s head with a skateboard, breaking it in 2. The attack left him unconscious on the floor, and he claims it was a severe injury – severe enough to make him hire a lawyer.

Justin Bieber

 Being the biggest sensation a 16-year-old girl can dream of, you can assume that fans of the singer can cause quite the raucous. But are the screams of teenagers enough to damage somebody’s hearing? This is what Stacey Betts, mother of an avid super fan who wanted to see Bieber live, claims happened to her while attending one of his concerts. 

 In 2010, in an Oregon concert by the Canadian megastar, Betts claims to have lost part of her hearing due to the terrible sound design of the event. She described how the screaming from the crazed crowd was further amplified by the props that were used on stage to reach dangerous levels of loudness. As a result, Betts alleged that she was left with tinnitus after the performance, and she demanded a grand total of $9 million for damages. Ultimately, the lawsuit went nowhere.

Steve Aoki

A common theme that is often present in celebrity lawsuits is fans getting injured while in the crowd of a rowdy concert. Many of your favorite singers and DJs have had to battle with the law due to their concerts being deemed “too dangerous”. Steve Aoki’s example is one of the craziest, hence we’ve decided to include it in our list.

In one of his 2012 stage performances, Aoki got excited and jumped into the crowd below him, wanting to hitch a ride on the wave of fans. Setting his eyes on an inflatable toy on the ground, Aoki decided that it would make for a good landing spot, unbeknownst to the fact that poor Brittany Hickman had been trapped beneath his soon-to-be cushion. Dropping on the toy caused Hickman to suffer severe damage to her neck, which she had to be hospitalized for.

 For her troubles, she wanted to sue the famous artist and receive the money she had spent on medical expenses, but it ended up being settled in a confidential agreement.