Music  

Prince siblings decry ‘mismanagement’ of tribute

By AFP

27 January 2017   |   6:39 pm

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Two of Prince's siblings have decried what they called mismanagement of the late pop icon's tribute concert and sought a clearer accounting of the proceeds.

The late Prince

Two of Prince’s siblings have decried what they called mismanagement of the late pop icon’s tribute concert and sought a clearer accounting of the proceeds.

Prince, who died suddenly in April, was remembered in a funk-driven, five-hour concert on October 13 in his native Minnesota that starred his friend Stevie Wonder.

But the lineup emerged just a month before the show, which was moved to the 20,000-seat XCel Energy Center in state capital St. Paul from the newly built, 66,200-capacity US Bank Stadium in adjacent Minneapolis.

In a court filing this week, Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson and half-brother Omarr Baker asked that a special administrator that had been put in charge of the estate remain financially liable after it hands over control at the end of the month.

The siblings said that the administrator, Bremer Trust, caused “damage to the Prince brand” and said the family had “no way of knowing who profited” from tickets, merchandise and other sales.

The pair said Bremer Trust passed over concert giant Live Nation to give the project to newly created company Jobu Presents, which withdrew in August, in part over the failure to secure talent.

The siblings alleged that Prince’s longtime lawyer L. Londell McMillan, who was acting as an advisor to Bremer Trust, orchestrated the saga as he ultimately put himself in charge of the show.

“The Special Administrator’s disastrous mismanagement of the tribute and lack of supervision of the advisors is its own fault,” said the filing, which redacted monetary figures from the public record.

McMillan denied the allegations and said he was working to preserve Prince’s estate and legacy. He wrote on Twitter: “Some people lie with intent. We ignore gossip. We rise above hate.”

Prince, who died from an accidental overdose of painkillers, left no will and had no children.

At the end of the month Bremer Trust will transfer control of Prince’s estate to Comerica, a Dallas-based financial services company.