U2 ordered to pay $1.5m to Brazilian promoter

U2 vocalist Bono and drummer Larry Mullens have been ordered to pay close to US$1.5 million in damages to a Brazilian promoter for claiming incorrectly they were not paid for three shows in 1998.

The Court of Justice of Santa Catalina ruled yesterday the musicians must pay Franco Bruni R$1.5m (US$441,000) in “material and moral damages” for remarks made in a 2000 O Globo interview, in which Bono and Mullens alleged they had not been paid for their PopMart concerts in Brazil two years before.

According to the court, however, it was collection society Egad that hadn’t paid out; Bruni paid the band an advance of US$8m. Bono and Mullens later retracted their remarks.

Judge Joel Figueira found the newspaper, and the journalist who had written the piece, were not liable for any damages, as they simply “reproduced the comments by the band members”.

The amount of compensation for which Bono and Mullens will be liable is, “with due corrections”, expected to total R$5m ($1.48m).

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.