Ghost’s Papa Emeritus/Tobias Forge Files Response to Lawsuit Brought by Former Nameless Ghouls
Attorneys for Ghost frontman Tobias Forge, better known to most of us as “Papa Emeritus,” have filed an official response to the lawsuit filed against the singer by four former members of the band. You can read the entire thing below, but here are some of the highlights of Forge/Papa’s counter-argument:
- Forge has always been the mastermind behind the band and its primary songwriter.
- The other members of the band have always taken their marching orders from Forge.
- None of the former Nameless Ghouls involved in the suit are original members of the band anyway, but, rather, all hired guns.
- The band has failed to turn a profit from touring…
- …but there’s no binding legal agreement obligating Forge to disclose Ghost’s financials to other members of the band anyway.
- Session musicians were sometimes used to record the band’s albums. In other words, the plaintiffs may have been nothing more than touring members of Ghost.
So, basically, Forge’s retort comes down to “I’m the boss and I’m the reason Ghost is successful so I’m not sure what these guys are being so pissy about.”
The response all provides a timeline of which musicians were playing Nameless Ghouls up through 2016. In other words, if you’ve ever wanted to know the Ghouls’ true identities, your wish has been granted:
- Gustaf Lindström (2010 – 2011)
- Simon Söderberg (2010 – 2016)
- Aksel Holmgren (2010 – 2014)
- Martin Persner (2010 – 2016)
- Mauro Rubino (2011 – 2016)
- Rikard Ottoson (2011 – 2014)
- Linton Rubino (2014 – 2015)
- Henrik Palm (2015 – 2016)
- Marin Hjertstedt (2015 – 2016)
- Megan Thomas (2016)
None of Forge’s counterarguments are surprising — especially given that he recently asserted that Ghost is basically a solo project. The question, of course, will be whether or not the courts agree with him.
You can read a translation of the response, courtesy of Reddit user Joppe777 (the same person who translated the original lawsuit’s text) by way of The PRP, below.
