Ghost Lawsuit Update: Appeal Court Date Set for March 2020

The lawsuit brought against Ghost frontman/mastermind Tobias Forge by four former “Nameless Ghoul” band members drags on and will continue at least until three years from when it was first filed in April of 2017.

The former members alleged in the suit that Forge took financial control over the band after an initial handshake agreement that profits were to be split equally. Notably, the filing of the suit had the result of unveiling Forge’s identity, as well as those of the former members, after performing anonymously for years. The case was dismissed in October of 2018 before it made it to court, with a judge ordering the plaintiffs to reimburse Forge for 1.3 million Swedish Kronor in legal fees (approximately $145,000 USD). The plaintiffs then requested a new trial, citing alleged impartiality of the judge due to his and Forge’s mutual association with the Swedish Order Of Freemasons. That appeal was denied in February of 2019, with the possibility of the plaintiffs appealing for other reasons left open.

Naturally the plaintiffs have indeed found other reasons to appeal. The nature of those reasons isn’t clear, but according to Ultimate Guitar [via Swedish newspaper Östgöta Correspondenten], the case has been referred to the Göta court of appeals in Jönköping and will be heard in March of 2020.

Ghost are on tour in the U.S. and Canada now! Get tickets here.

At this point I’d imagine the four plaintiffs are out so much money in legal fees — and what they had to reimburse Forge for his — that any additional shot is worth it. I also have to imagine they’re steadfast in their belief that their contributions to Ghost were crucial to the band’s success and that they deserve to be paid for them. I kinda feel bad for the guys and do hope they walk away with something, although so often with legal issues it’s whoever has the most money to pay the most aggressive lawyers who wins.

We’ll check back in with you all in March.