Perry Farrell Sues Jane's Addiction Bandmates, Alleges 'Bullying Campaign'

Perry Farrell launched a lawsuit against his former Jane’s Addiction bandmates, just hours after they sued him.

The dispute centers on the notorious onstage incident in September last year, in which the band’s reunion crashed to a halt after Farrell lost his temper with guitarist Dave Navarro, resulting in an altercation that brought their show, tour and plans to release new music to an end.

Yesterday (July 16), Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins filed a claim for the recovery of as much as $10 million in lost income.

“The physical, emotional and financial harms Defendant has wrought have deeply impacted the Plaintiffs, their families and their loved ones,” they claimed, “and it is time for Defendant to face the consequences of his actions and be held accountable."

Farrell’s legal representative responded by saying the timing of the trio’s lawsuit was based on the fact they’d heard that the singer was about to sue them. Hours later he did just that.

The basis of his suit, filed at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, is that he’d been the victim of a bullying campaign within the band for years, accusing his ex-colleagues of assault, battery, infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract.

His own explanation of the onstage incident was that he’d been trying to tell Navarro that his guitar was too loudly during their song “Ocean Size.” “Farrell did not throw any punches, but simply wanted to alert Navarro that he had to stop playing so loud,” the paperwork read.

It went on to claim that the incident “was hardly one-sided, and in fact, what followed was an inappropriate violent escalation by Navarro and Avery that was disproportionate to Farrell’s minor bodycheck of Navarro.”

Perry Farrell Wanted to Continue Jane’s Addiction Tour, Lawsuit Says

The singer had wanted to continue with the tour, it was stated. When it was canceled and the band claimed the reason was “mental health difficulties” on Farrell’s part, that was an attempt to undermine him, it was written.

“[D]efendants made their false and defamatory statements regarding Perry Farrell’s mental health in a spurious effort … to change the narrative about the events of the band’s last show, but also as a part of a disingenuous effort to secure insurance coverage for their own irresponsible cancellation of the tour."

The legal representative for Navarro, Avery and Perkins said in a statement: “If there is a question about what to believe, you can believe the video we’ve all watched,” he said, citing an Instagram post by Farrell’s wife in which she wrote: “Perry was clearly the aggressor, I’m not arguing that point at all… [H]e has been struggling mentally for quite some time.”

He continued: “You can believe Perry himself when he apologized to the band: ‘…Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior.’ Today’s complaint from Perry… is revisionist history. It won’t stand.”