Legal

Noel responds to Liam’s defamation lawsuit

By | Published on Monday 21 November 2011

Noel Gallagher

When Noel Gallagher earlier this year accused brother Liam of bailing on an Oasis booking at the 2009 V Festival because he was hungover, the accused sibling responded by suing for defamation. But Noel then subsequently backtracked somewhat on his claims, and it was thought Liam had withdrawn his lawsuit as a result.

But seemingly not, because the Mirror has got its hands on Noel Gallagher’s countersuit, which – if the photocopies published by the tabloid are to be believed – were submitted to court at the start of this month. The tab adds that the legal papers pull no punches in dissing Liam, outlining various incidents over the years where Team Noel claim the Oasis frontman acted unreasonably.

The court document admits that Liam did – as he claims – have laryngitis on the day of the 2009 V Festival show, and that that was ultimately the reason the band didn’t play. But, Noel claims, his brother was drinking and smoking to 1am the previous night following Oasis’ performance at the other V Festival site, and that this “could have harmed his throat further or held back his recovery”. The legal paper then goes on to outline other times Liam cancelled live shows for allegedly unreasonable reasons, including one occasion where an entire US tour was axed so the frontman could go house hunting.

The papers also deal with the other claim Noel made which Liam disputes, that Oasis ultimately split because the frontman wanted to advertise his fashion line Pretty Green in the band’s tour programme. Noel admits no such advert ever appeared, and that he didn’t deal directly with Liam on that issue, but says he did deal with intermediaries who were looking to use Oasis’ live activity to promote his brother’s fashion venture. When Noel refused, he says, his brother became even more awkward than usual, while deliberately winding him up by dedicating songs to Pretty Green employees at gigs.

Whether any of this will really get to court remains to be seen. The Mirror quotes a source as saying: “Neither shows any sign of budging. It seems to be total deadlock – and they aren’t pulling any punches”. I do hope it does go all the way, I mean, if anyone’s going to write a play about the Noel/Liam relationship, what better than an acrimonious court case to frame it around?



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