Le groupe GHOST serait actuellement en cours de procès impliquant des anciens membres autrement appelés les Nameless Ghouls. En effet, 4 anciens membres auraient initié un procès contre Tobias Forge pour se faire payer des sommes qui auraient été non perçues pour leur participation en leur qualité de membres masqués entre 2011 et 2016.
Simon Söderberg, ancien guitariste désormais dévoilé, aurait déclaré sur Facebook :
"As of yesterday we, four signatories from the band Ghost,
have filed a lawsuit with the Linköping District Court. We are suing
Tobias Forge (”Papa Emeritus”) – the band’s lead singer who has also
been responsible for the finances of the band since its founding.
As of the filing of this lawsuit we are requesting that the court,
under penalty, oblige Tobias Forge to declare the incomes as well as
expenses of the band concerning the years between 2011 and 2016.
Throughout all the years we have been on tour with Ghost (between
2011-2016 some of us have performed something like 500 shows with the
band) and throughout the band’s album recordings, we have neither been
allowed to share in the profits of the band, nor have we seen any of the
incomes accounted for.
The only thing we have received have been minimal advance payments to
allow the band to keep going. This despite the fact that we had an
agreement that any profits should be shared fairly between the members
of the band.
When we have attempted to raise the issue of the band’s finances with
Tobias Forge, his sole response has been that there are so far no
profits to be share, but that everyone will be generously compensated
once the band turns a profit.
The reason that this lawsuit is now being filed is a contract dispute
that has escalated during the previous year (2016). Over the last year
we have received multiple proposed contracts from Tobias Forge in which
he seeks to redefine his role in the band.
Since the conception of Ghost our common understanding and agreement
has been that we are a band on equal terms, but that Tobias will act as
band leader and manage the band’s finances through his own companies.
Through contracts received from Tobias and his lawyers during 2016,
Tobias has attempted to make us sign an agreement that implies we are
merely consultants working for his company, an agreement also stating
that we would receive less that a minimal wage for our contributions to
the band. According to this proposal, furthermore we would renounce any
and all rights to music royalties.
All above despite the fact that some of us have been members of the
band since its foundation, investing all of our time in the band during
the past five years, with as much right to the recordings and trademark
of the band Ghost as that of Tobias Forge.
Out vocalist and former friend is now attempting to, in a underhand
and shameless way, transform Ghost from a band into a solo project with
hired musicians. Naturally this is not something we can accept.
When, in connection with the 2016 United States tour, approached a
lawyer in order to sort out the situation of the contracts, we were
informed that Tobias Forge no longer wanted us to participate in
upcoming tours. Thus, Tobias Forge is now going ahead with the tour,
which started March 24 2017 and is set to end in the UK on August 12, on
his own together with rented musicians who have replaced all other band
members. Tobias Forge has chosen this path of action without any
permission from us to carry out the tour on his own. This under the name
Ghost, which we regard as our commonly owned trademark.
The actions of Tobias Forge amount to nothing less than unabashed
dishonesty, greed, and darkness. Not the darkness of which Ghost sings,
but a darkness that pushes a person to betray his best friends when fame
and fortune appear within reach.
We are terribly sorry that this afflicts the fans of the band as well,
and that they too should suffer because of this betrayal and greed.
<3
We who are suing Tobias Forge are:
Simon Söderberg (Alpha) – member of Ghost since 2010.
Mauro Rubino (Air) – member of Ghost since 2011.
Henrik Palm (Eather) – member of Ghost since 2015
Martin Hjertstedt (Earth) – member of Ghost since 2014
The Nameless Ghouls"
Il serait alors reproché à Tobias Forge, en charge apparemment de l'aspect financier, d'avoir fait dévier le groupe en une entreprise dont il serait le seul à bord et de faire signer aux autres membres du groupe un accord dans lequel ils seraient réduit au simple rôle de consultant travaillant pour son entreprise, avec un salaire minimum et une renonciation à percevoir des droits sur les royalties.
Affaire à suivre qui confirmerait ainsi les rumeurs de turn-over au sein groupe qui tournerait avec le seul Papa Emeritus du dernier line-up et qui fait également suite à l'information du mois dernier parue sur le site indiquant le départ de l'ancien membre Martin Pesner alias Omega que Music Waves avait rencontré en 2015
Bref, si cela venait à se confirmer : les affaires de pédophilie n'épargneraient pas GHOST ; Papa Emeritus aurait également enfilé ses Nameless Ghouls !!!