# Nugent sues over canceled concert



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Nugent sues over canceled concert

Ted Nugent filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday against Muskegon Summer Celebration and some Muskegon city officials, claiming organizers who canceled a June Summer Celebration concert wrongly accused him of making racist comments. 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1061565385242210.xml


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## rb1 (Jun 24, 2002)

Thats to bad about ted; Its just that the anti's are trying to find
a way to get back at him. for all the good he does for hunting and 
nature, what about the kids I'am sure there is all different races going to them camps for kids that Ted helps out. RB1


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## One Eye (Sep 10, 2000)

This has very little to do with his hunting and guns positions, and more about rampant politically correctness. The Muskegon "officials" mentioned were more worried about minority groups backlash than they were about actually determining the facts. 

I will not spend as few dollars in the City of Muskegon as possible, and I live within a mile of the City. I will never step foot in a Summer Celebration concert ever again. I hope Ted wins his lawsuits, as he is in the right.

Who said that "free speech" was a right??

Dan


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Nugent set to star in courtroom drama 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1111076115239050.xml

Thursday, March 17, 2005, By John S. Hausman, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER 
The stage is set for a Muskegon personal appearance this week by '70s rock star Ted Nugent. 

Well, not literally the stage. Nugent is scheduled to appear at the courthouse, not in concert. 

On the Friday docket of 14th Circuit Judge Timothy G. Hicks is a pretrial settlement conference for Nugent's breach-of-contract lawsuit against Muskegon Summer Celebration.

As is typical, the judge is requiring that the parties to the lawsuit -- not just their lawyers -- show up. Barring a negotiated settlement before Friday's 11 a.m. conference, that means Nugent must appear in person. 

It doesn't necessarily mean a public appearance in court. Such conferences take place behind closed doors in the judge's chambers. Even if a deal is struck, it doesn't have to be put on the record in court unless the two sides wish to do so. 

Nugent is suing over the festival's cancellation of his planned June 2003 concert at Muskegon's Heritage Landing, after news reports that Nugent allegedly used derogatory racial words referring to blacks and Asians during a Denver live radio interview. 

If the two sides don't settle, the case is set for a jury trial starting Tuesday. In case of trial, Nugent intends to be in court every day, his co-counsel Gary A. Peters said Monday. 

Meanwhile, the judge has continued to narrow the case. 

After a courtroom hearing Monday, Hicks granted a defense motion to throw out one of the four remaining counts in the lawsuit: Nugent's claim that he planned his 2003 concert tour season around Muskegon's date, and the season was disrupted by Muskegon's cancellation. The judge agreed with the defense contention that no evidence supported that count, called "detrimental reliance." 

Hicks also came to the verge of granting a more important defense motion. Summer Celebration lawyers hope to limit any damage award to the $80,000 value of the festival's alleged oral contract with Nugent -- but the judge left Nugent's lawyers one last loophole to argue for a much larger award. 

Basically, Nugent's attorneys hope to ask jurors for more than $1 million in "lost income" they claim the rocker would later have earned had it not been for Muskegon's cancellation. 

In court Monday, Peters argued that Muskegon Summer Celebration's cancellation, after a "continuous hubbub" of news articles about Nugent's alleged racial remarks, caused Nugent to miss out on future concert bookings he would otherwise have gotten. "You have a quasi-official governmental agency saying 'We can't have you here because of this,' " Peters said. 

"Every year Mr. Nugent has been able to fill his plate, touring as much or as little as he wanted," Peters said. But after the Muskegon cancellation, "the phone stopped ringing ... the calls stopped being returned." 

Specifically, Nugent is claiming Muskegon's action caused him to miss out on his hoped-for participation in the 2004 Ozzfest (Ozzy Osbourne) and Metallica tours. His lawyers claim Nugent lost an estimated $700,000 to $1.2 million in income as a result. 

In fact, Nugent's lawyer said, the rocker's concert career continues to suffer from Muskegon's action nearly two years ago. 

"He would not be touring now, were it not for a personal favor from Toby Keith," Peters said. Nugent has been touring recently with country star Keith, including concerts last weekend in Indiana. 

But Hicks noted that witness depositions taken in preparation for the trial -- from Ozzfest and Metallica spokesmen, and even from Nugent's own booking agent -- did not support the claim that Muskegon's cancellation had anything to do with the rocker's failure to get later tour dates. 

Still, Hicks gave Nugent's side until Friday to present sworn testimony supporting the lost-income claim, as long as the new evidence would not "unfairly prejudice" the defense on the eve of trial. 

"He's got to come here ... with the quiver armed with some evidence," the judge said of Nugent, a bow-hunting enthusiast and hunting-rights activist. Without that evidence, "the lost profits claim is gone," Hicks said. 

Finally, Hicks on Monday granted a demand from festival lawyer Craig Noland that Nugent disclose any income he has generated, from whatever source, since 2003. Without that information, Noland argued, he cannot defend against the "lost income" claim. "We don't know if he even had an incentive to tour," the defense lawyer said, arguing that Nugent's income from nonconcert sources may have been so high that the rocker didn't need to tour in 2004. 

Nugent in 2003 sued Muskegon's summer festival and its leading officials for canceling his concert on May 16, 2003, after a controversy arose over news reports about the May 5 Denver radio interview. 

The case started in federal court, was refiled later in state court in Nugent's own Jackson County, then landed in Muskegon County last August after a Jackson judge ordered it moved. 

In the months since, Hicks has progressively narrowed the case in response to defense motions, while declining to dismiss it outright. The judge earlier scuttled a claim that festival officials defamed Nugent's character in public statements, ruling that no evidence supported that contention. Hicks also removed individual festival officials Joe Austin and Timothy Achterhoff as defendants. 

What remains of the lawsuit claims Summer Celebration canceled Nugent's concert "without any notice, or contractual justification." He was booked to perform June 30 of that year, and his performance had been publicly announced, although the two sides had not yet signed a written contract at the time of the cancellation. 

The lawsuit accuses the festival of breach of contract; "unfair competition" by allegedly continuing to promote Nugent's concert on Summer Celebration's Web site after the cancellation; and "unjust enrichment" -- profiting from wrongful acts.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Ted Nugent gears up for summer concert lawsuit 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/111123090670620.xml

Saturday, March 19, 2005, By Randy Rogoski, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

Ted Nugent came to town Friday to consider settling his lawsuit against the Muskegon Summer Celebration committee for canceling his June 2003 concert. 

He'll be back. 

Muskegon will have its first celebrity trial beginning 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the courtroom of 14th Circuit Judge Timothy G. Hicks.

"I'll see y'all Tuesday," the famed rock star said as he was escorted by sheriff's deputies and attorneys from the judge's chambers shortly after 1 p.m. He stopped briefly for a photo opportunity with waiting fans and a brief interview with Grand Rapids television stations. 

"We tried to settle and we were unsuccessful," said Hicks in his chambers after the pretrial settlement conference between the parties to the lawsuit and their attorneys. 

The Michael J. Kobza Hall of Justice was abuzz Friday, from the moment the "Motor City Madman" arrived and the whole time he was on the sixth floor. 

It was unusual for the normally 

staid judicial chambers, to say the least. "Nobody ever came to a settlement conference before," said Sue Patelski, Hicks' legal secretary. 

There was a steady stream of county elected officials, courthouse workers and fans who wedged into the judge's chambers for photos with "The Nuge." He made time for his admirers while waiting for the judge to finish a trial session. 

Longtime fan Paul Hibbard, 35, emerged from the office with his empty gun case autographed "Ted Nugent '05." He had a photo on his camera of himself with Nugent. He said he left the gun at home. 

"I've seen his act two or three times," Hibbard said. 

Kathy Schotts, a court reporter who works on the sixth floor, emerged from the office with Nugent autographs for her husband and son. 

Schotts said Nugent -- a fierce advocate of gun and hunting rights -- joshed with her about her 5-year-old son's name being "Hunter." 

Nugent is known for his prowess with hunting weapons as well as with an electric guitar. His Web site claims he has recorded 29 albums of rock music and was the No. 1 tour act in the world in the late 1970s. 

Nugent is suing over the festival's cancellation of his planned June 2003 concert at Muskegon's Heritage Landing, after news reports that Nugent allegedly used derogatory racial words referring to blacks and Asians during a Denver live radio interview. 

"I watch his hunting program on TV," said Mike Burns, 46, who was waiting for an autograph and saw Nugent's act in Detroit and Atlanta. "They (the Muskegon Summer Celebration) should have given him a chance about the slur he made," Burns said. 

But there are two sides to every legal matter. 

"We didn't order a controversy, we ordered a concert," said Tim Achterhoff, who served as the chairman of the Summer Celebration in 2003 and now serves as president of the celebration's board. 

"We're here in case they want to have a meeting with us," said Achterhoff, who was waiting with other members of the board if needed to discuss a settlement proposal. 

But Nugent had at least as many fans as adversaries. 

"I'd like to take (Nugent) and his lawyer to lunch," said Kevin Peterson, 32, who was with his wife, Wanda, and willing to wait as long as it took for an autograph and a glimpse. 

"I love 'Cat Scratch Fever' (a Nugent hit song title). I'm a hunter, too," said Kenneth Parker, 19, who waited with his wife, Ashley. "I'm here so I can see The Nuge for the first time in person." 

All the fans waiting in the hall said they would like to see Nugent perform at the Summer Celebration. 

But Nugent fandom wasn't confined to civilians. 

"All the (sheriff) deputies are getting autographs," said a courthouse worker. 

And the Muskegon County Sheriff's Department added a new definition to the police motto, "to serve and protect." 

A sheriff's deputy returned from the judge's chambers with signed autographs for fans concerned they might not be able to wait for Nugent to reappear. 

Earlier, as Nugent cleared security shortly before 11 a.m. at the first floor entrance of the Kobza Hall of Justice, deputies were waiting to escort him to the judge's chambers. 

"They needed me to lock out the elevator so it could go straight to the sixth floor," said an employee in the courthouse facilities management department. 

Outside the courtroom where the case will be heard Tuesday, Deputy Mike Prow was standing guard while an earlier proceeding was under way. He was keeping Nugent onlookers out of the courtroom. 

"This (Nugent's appearance in the courthouse) is an exceptional case because we have somebody famous. We have to do the same security for major criminal trials," Prow said. 

Another deputy said Nugent showed them his Lake County deputy card. Nugent's Web site states that he has been a registered Michigan County Sheriff's Deputy since 1978. 

"He hunts a lot up there (near Baldwin)," his fellow Michigan deputy said. 

Even Muskegon County elected officials felt a connection to The Nuge. 

Eva Amaya works for the 60th District Court, and said her sister once worked as Nugent's wife's personal trainer. Amaya arranged to have her photo taken with Nugent on her camera. 

Register of Deeds Mark Fairchild and County Clerk Karen Buie had photos with Nugent on Amaya's camera, too. 

"I'm the clerk he filed the case with," Buie said with a touch of pride.


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## Buddy Lee (Dec 17, 2003)

Hamilton Reef said:


> Ted Nugent gears up for summer concert lawsuit
> 
> http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/111123090670620.xml
> 
> ...


 :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Rocker's claim against festival heads to court 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1111506314147020.xml

Tuesday, March 22, 2005, By John S. Hausman, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER 
And now ... nearly two years in the making ... it's Ted Nugent's Muskegon show! 

The breach-of-contract lawsuit by flamboyant '70s rock star and Michigan-native-turned-Texan Nugent against Muskegon Summer Celebration was set to go to trial today in the courtroom of 14th Circuit Judge Timothy G. Hicks. 

Muskegon County court officials -- unused to celebrity trials and impressed by public interest in Nugent's first appearance at last Friday's pretrial settlement conference -- weren't sure what to expect Monday. Administrative staff Monday afternoon were discussing how to handle a large news-media and public presence, if there should be any.

Nugent is suing over the festival's cancellation of his planned June 2003 concert at Muskegon's Heritage Landing, after news reports that Nugent allegedly used derogatory racial words referring to blacks and Asians during a Denver live radio interview. 

Before the trial began, Nugent said he intended to be in court each day of the trial. "I'm here because I believe in it," he said. 

The trial is set for three days but may run longer. 

Selection of a nine-member jury was due to start at 9:30 a.m. today. After that was complete, Hicks was to rule on remaining pretrial motions. 

The most important issue left to resolve before the trial was how much Nugent can claim in damages, should he win the lawsuit. Hicks last week all but granted a defense motion to limit potential damages to the $80,000 value of the festival's alleged oral contract with Nugent. 

But Nugent's attorneys hope to ask jurors for more than $1 million in "lost income" they claim the rocker would later have earned, had it not been for Muskegon's cancellation. 

Specifically, Nugent is claiming Muskegon's action caused him to miss out on his hoped-for participation in the 2004 Ozzfest (Ozzy Osbourne) and Metallica tours. His lawyers claim Nugent lost an estimated $700,000 to $1.8 million in income as a result. In fact, they claim, the rocker's concert career continues to suffer from Muskegon's action nearly two years ago. 

The judge last week said Nugent had presented no evidence to support that claim in pretrial depositions, but gave him until last Friday to submit new evidence or abandon any "lost income" claim. Nugent's lawyers did submit papers Friday, and Hicks was expected to rule today on whether it was enough to keep the big damage claim alive. 

Nugent in 2003 sued Muskegon's summer festival and its leading officials for canceling his concert on May 16, 2003, after a controversy arose over news reports about the May 5 Denver radio interview. 

Hicks has progressively narrowed the case in response to defense motions, while declining to dismiss it outright. 

What remains of the lawsuit claims Summer Celebration canceled Nugent's concert "without any notice, or contractual justification." 

The lawsuit accuses the festival of breach of contract.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Many ask: Just what did Ted say? 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1111767312214360.xml

Friday, March 25, 2005, By John S. Hausman, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER 
Ted Nugent's actual words during a live Denver radio interview May 5, 2003, are still in dispute as his defamation trial continues in a Muskegon County courtroom. 

Despite efforts since the early days of the controversy by Muskegon Summer Celebration to obtain a tape or transcript, none apparently exists. 

The outspoken rocker denies slurring anybody. Commenting to reporters outside court Wednesday, he called accusations that he did so "a total fabrication." Shortly after the controversy erupted in 2003, Nugent in a written statement blamed much of it on "liberal hippies in the media." 

The first news account of the interview was a May 6, 2003, article in the Rocky Mountain News, a Denver daily newspaper. 

The story was headlined "Remarks put Nugent in stranglehold, baby/DJs, listeners want to wring his neck over racial ranting." 

The story began: "Denver radio listeners and disc jockeys were shell-shocked Monday after rocker Ted Nugent used derogatory racial terms for Asians and blacks on live radio. 

"The highly rated Lewis &amp; Floorwax morning show on 103.5 FM The Fox quickly turned into a discussion of race relations after the '70s rocker made his statements. 

"In using the words 'g----' and 'n-----' on live radio, Nugent was apparently trying to make the point that the terms were just words and shouldn't offend anyone. But he missed the mark, listeners and Fox personnel agreed. 

"Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax, longtime Nugent supporters and friends, were taken aback when Nugent went on his rant and took him to task on the air. Floorwax said on the air that he was disappointed that Nugent used the words; Lewis noted that Nugent likes to shock but went too far ... . 

"'I don't think he's a racist, but he'll come on the show occasionally and drop a bomb like that and then step back to see the reaction it gets,' Lewis said after the show. 'He loves that reputation of a shoot-from-the-hip kind of guy."' 

The story went on to describe what allegedly happened on the air: 

"The conversation was innocuous talk about guitars until Nugent referred to 'Japs' in reference to Japanese-made guitars. Lewis and Floorwax immediately called him on that, which only encouraged Nugent to go further, using the word 'g----.' 

"The DJs protested further, and Nugent went further, noting (black comic) Richard Pryor's use of the word 'n-----' as a comic device and said that, long ago, one of the Funk Brothers (a black musical group) used that term as a compliment to describe Nugent's guitar playing ... . 

"The phone lines lit up with outraged listeners. Many said they understood the point Nugent was trying to make, but that his use of the terms and attitudes ended up hurting him more than helping." The article said the DJs "were adamant in their opposition to Nugent's views" and quoted a Denver-area Chinese-American activist saying that Nugent's use of the words "so freely and carelessly, without thinking about it, is really disappointing." 

A shorter and slightly different account of the incident was then distributed nationwide by the Associated Press news service. The AP story said the disc jockeys stopped the interview. 

The AP version is what The Muskegon Chronicle ran as a five-paragraph "People in the News" item on May 7, 2003, spurring the Muskegon controversy that led eight days later to the concert cancellation.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Agent: Nugent's career was harmed 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1111594550154280.xml

Wednesday, March 23, 2005, By John S. Hausman, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

Muskegon Summer Celebration put rocker Ted Nugent's career in a stranglehold, his booking agent testified Tuesday. 

The Muskegon festival's cancellation of the '70s rock star's scheduled June 2003 show -- especially a press release blaming Nugent's "use of ... potentially offensive racial terms" during a radio interview -- continues to blight Nugent's career, agent Adam Kornfeld testified. 

After the cancellation, "The phones died. It seemed like Ted was a pariah," testified Kornfeld, the first witness at the jury trial of Nugent's breach-of-contract lawsuit against the Muskegon festival.

Muskegon's version of a celebrity trial Tuesday drew more attention than the county's typical courtroom case, but public interest was far from the scale of, say, the Michael Jackson child molestation case. 

Cameras and reporters from Grand Rapids' three network-affiliate TV stations were in court, as were a Muskegon Chronicle reporter and photographer, but there was no presence from news media outside West Michigan. And Nugent drew a small circle of loyal fans throughout the day, but hardly a crowd. 

A little cluster of fewer than a dozen admirers waited for him to leave the courtroom after the trial day ended at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Nugent obligingly posed for photos and signed autographs, including one on the blue-jeaned thigh of a female fan and another on the front page of a man's copy of Saturday's Chronicle, which featured a photo spread about Nugent's first Muskegon appearance Friday at a settlement conference. 

The 56-year-old rocker, outdoorsman and bowhunting and gun enthusiast dressed casually for court, wearing black jeans, boots, a dark shirt, no tie and a sportcoat with camouflage shoulders. Nugent also wore a wide-brimmed camouflage safari hat but, per the rules, left it on the table while in court. 

Nugent is expected to testify. It hasn't been determined when. 

After a nine-member panel of jurors and alternates was selected by 2 p.m. Tuesday, opening statements and testimony focused on the main issues: Did Muskegon Summer Celebration break a contract with Nugent? And did its action -- especially its press release about "racial terms" -- blight Nugent's career? 

If Nugent was still a rock star in mid-2003, the Muskegon cancellation abruptly made him a falling star, according to Kornfeld's testimony. 

"It became all of a sudden very, very difficult if not impossible" to get concert bookings for the 2004 season, Kornfeld testified. Kornfeld said it was the first time in his 21 years as Nugent's agent that the '70s rock star had failed to get his desired concert dates. 

No one told Kornfeld that Muskegon's cancellation was the reason they wouldn't book him -- but that was the only factor that had changed in 2003, the agent testified. Kornfeld testified that Nugent had never had a concert canceled before. 

Kornfeld is a founding partner of Artists Group International, the booking agency that represents Nugent. His testimony is crucial to Nugent's claim for more than $1 million in "lost income" damages from Muskegon Summer Celebration, blaming the festival for the rocker's inability to get concert bookings in 2004 and -- except for a just-completed tour with country singer Toby Keith -- in 2005. 

If Nugent wins and gets a big award, the Muskegon festival has insurance to cover most of it, beyond the $80,000 value of its alleged oral contract with Nugent. 

Kornfeld also testified that he considered the two sides to have a binding oral contract -- certainly from the time Nugent's pending performance was publicly announced and tickets went on sale May 3, 2003. Much of the festival's defense is based on its position that there was no signed contract by the time of the cancellation, which was announced May 16. But a signed contract is not required to make a concert commitment official, Kornfeld testified. 

The festival's attorney, Craig Noland of Grand Rapids, was to cross-examine Kornfeld starting this morning. 

Nugent was scheduled to perform June 30, 2003, at Muskegon's Heritage Landing. The festival canceled his appearance after local controversy over reports by news outlets that Nugent allegedly used racial slurs while referring to blacks and Asians during a live radio interview in Denver on May 5, 2003. 

Nugent sued in August 2003. 

Nugent is a Detroit native who lived in Concord, near Jackson, before moving his family to Crawford, Texas, in 2003. The guitar player is known for hits including "Stranglehold," "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Wango Tango." 

Fourteenth Circuit Judge Timothy G. Hicks is presiding over the trial, which is expected to continue through at least March 30.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Rocker's attorney: 'There was a contract' 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1111679120265680.xml

Thursday, March 24, 2005, By John S. Hausman, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER 
Get it in writing ... unless you're in the concert-booking business. 

There, your word is your bond -- or so testified a veteran entertainment-industry lawyer, who represents Ted Nugent among others, at the jury trial of Nugent's breach-of-contract lawsuit against Muskegon Summer Celebration for canceling his scheduled June 30, 2003, show. 

One of the festival's main defenses is that the two sides had no signed contract at the time of the cancellation, which came nearly two weeks after the concert was announced and tickets went on sale.

But signed contracts are highly unusual in the concert industry, making the defense meaningless, said Nugent's longtime business lawyer Mike Novak, testifying Wednesday for Nugent's side as an expert witness. 

"Oral contracts ... are the industry norm," Novak testified. "That's how deals are done." 

Festival officials killed the show May 15, 2003, after a local controversy erupted over news reports that Nugent had allegedly used racial slurs during a live radio interview in Denver. The cancellation came one day before the festival's scheduled sale of 11-day passes for the entire Summer Celebration, which required a final lineup to be in place. Nugent was replaced at the last minute by '80s rock star Pat Benatar. 

Nugent representatives contend they had an oral contract as of April 24, when the two sides agreed to Nugent's appearance at Heritage Landing for a fee of $80,000. Nugent's appearance was announced publicly May 2, and tickets for his show went on sale May 3. 

The start of ticket sales is "the point of no return," Novak testified. "Very, very few events are canceled" after that. He said the Nugent cancellation was shocking, the first time he had seen such a thing in 25 years in the business. 

"A contract is a contract," Novak said. "It's a huge misconception (to think a signed paper is needed). There may not have been a signed paper, but there was a contract." 

Circuit Judge Timothy G. Hicks qualified Novak as an expert witness on "the contracting of talent in the entertainment industry" based on Novak's decades of experience in the business. Novak said he also represents Bob Seger, Kid Rock and other entertainers. 

Novak also described a Muskegon meeting he had with the festival board of directors a week after the cancellation, trying to work out an agreement to restore Nugent to the schedule. 

"The board was in something of a panic," Novak said. "They were being threatened, I think, with racial protests." 

He said board members showed him a statement Nugent had posted on his Web site in response to the Denver radio controversy, saying anyone who was waiting for an apology should "pack a lunch." 

Novak said board members told him they'd made a "tough call," but an irreversible one, faced with what they considered Nugent's lack of cooperation and with a looming deadline to sell the 11-day passes. 

"I thought it was a terrible call," Novak said. "I was sort of incredulous about the whole thing. I had never seen anything like it." Nugent's lawyer charged the concert had been canceled "for no good reason, other than there's a rumor mill running." 

Novak said festival board members suggested bringing in Nugent to perform the following year, but that Nugent's people weren't interested. "My clients were so distraught about what happened that they wouldn't authorize further discussions with Muskegon Summer Celebration," Novak said. 

"There was a credibility problem," the lawyer said. "My client was not going to let this happen to him twice. ... If it happened once, it could happen again." 

Nugent is seeking more than $1 million in "lost income" damages from Muskegon Summer Celebration, blaming the festival for the rocker's inability to get concert bookings in 2004 and -- except for a just-completed tour with country singer Toby Keith -- in 2005. 

If Nugent wins and gets a big award, the Muskegon festival has insurance to cover most of it, beyond the $80,000 value of its alleged oral contract with Nugent. 

Novak -- and, earlier, Nugent's booking agent -- testified that the rocker's concert career continues to be blighted by Muskegon's cancellation. In particular, they blamed the festival's May 16, 2003, press release that said: "Any use of potentially offensive racial terms, such as those attributed recently to Ted Nugent, do not reflect the spirit of Muskegon or the Summer Celebration." 

Novak testified that the cancellation was widely reported in the concert-industry trade press and in other media -- including national TV news networks, such as CNN -- and that he believes a false impression was created that Nugent was a racist. "This (Muskegon's cancellation and press release) gives the media authority to report the rumor," Novak said. 

As a result, "I think he has lost a lot of his live concert salability on account of mislabeling that has taken place here," Novak said. Nugent until 2003 was easy to book at state fairs and similar "family" venues, but those offers dried up after the Muskegon cancellation, Novak said. "Ted is now viewed in some circles as a dangerous artist, because he could offend the crowd. ... If it's something like being (called) a racist, or using hate speech, I don't know anyone who could (not be affected adversely)." 

However, Nugent's side has not presented any witnesses saying they refused to book Nugent because of the Muskegon cancellation. 

And, in his opening statement to jurors this week, festival lawyer Craig Noland noted that Summer Celebration never labeled Nugent. "We did not believe Mr. Nugent was a racist," Noland said. "We did not call him a racist." 

Apparently no transcript of the Denver radio interview exists, but Nugent has denied slurring anyone. On Wednesday he told reporters outside court that any such accusation is a "total fabrication." 

Nugent, 56, is a Detroit native who lived in Concord, Mich., near Jackson, before moving his family to Crawford, Texas, in 2003. The guitar player is known for hits including "Stranglehold," "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Wango Tango." 

The trial is expected to continue through at least next week. Testimony by witnesses for Nugent's side was to resume this morning.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Judge limits total Nugent can claim 

Friday, March 25, 2005, By John S. Hausman

MUSKEGON -- Muskegon Summer Celebration scored a huge win Thursday in its defense against rocker Ted Nugent's breach-of-contract lawsuit.

Circuit Judge Timothy Hicks unexpectedly reversed himself and barred Nugent from claiming more than $1 million in damages for "future lost income" that Nugent asserts were the result of Muskegon's cancellation of a scheduled June 2003 concert. 

The '70s and '80s rock star claims the festival's cancellation -- and its press release blaming news reports about Nugent's "use of potentially offensive racial terms" in a Denver live radio interview -- caused Nugent to miss out on concert bookings to this day. 

Now, even if he wins his lawsuit, the most Nugent can get is the $80,000 value of his alleged oral contract with Summer Celebration, plus whatever income he might have earned from the show, such as T-shirt or CD sales. 

Festival officials and their lawyer, Craig Noland, declined comment, but the relief was evident on their faces after Hicks' end-of-the-day ruling. 

If Nugent won a big damage award, the money would have come straight out of Muskegon Summer Celebration coffers. It originally was thought the festival's liability insurance would cover claims for breach of contract, but it does not. 

Any award in the $1 million range would have devastated the nonprofit festival. 

Nugent's team was displeased with the judge's ruling. "We strongly disagree with it," said Nugent's trial lawyer, Cindy Rhodes Victor. 

Hicks' ruling did not mean he necessarily found Nugent's "lost future income" claim unbelievable. 

The case will resume after the Easter holiday weekend.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Nugent notions 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1112112926123090.xml

Tuesday, March 29, 2005, By John S. Hausman, 
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER WITH STAFF REPORTS 

Whatever else he may be, rocker Ted Nugent is no shrinking violet. 

And he's not your ordinary Muskegon County court plaintiff. 

The '70s rock star may testify today in the trial of his breach-of-contract lawsuit against Muskegon Summer Celebration. Nugent is suing over the festival's cancellation of his scheduled June 2003 concert after a local controversy erupted over news reports that he used the racial words "Jap," "g----" and -- as a quotation of a word he said was used by African-American entertainers -- "n-----" during a live Denver radio interview. 

From his casual courtroom attire, to his hallway and parking-lot interactions with the trickle of fans who show up each day, to his friendly but opinionated conversations with anyone willing to listen during breaks in the trial, the lanky 56-year-old Detroit native radiates attitude. 

Some impressions Nugent left during the trial's first three days last week: 

Fans and ex-fans 

The numbers have dwindled, but each day at least a few loyal fans showed up to greet Nugent, get his autograph, be photographed with him or in some cases sit in court to hear trial testimony ... until the mind-numbing contract-speak sends them back out the door. 

Often, Nugent tries to be accommodating to his admirers. He'll briefly mingle, smile for the digital cameras, sign the Nugent books and compact discs, the blue jeans and guitars. Occasionally he'll joke with the fans: "You guys are f---in' nuts!" he kidded a group pestering him in the hallway outside court one day during a break. 

But not all fans get the attention they're seeking. 

Thursday, Nugent told a Chronicle reporter he thought it was a shame he didn't have time to talk with fans outside the courthouse in the morning because he was trying to show up in court on time -- only to have to sit and wait for the trial to resume, sometimes a half-hour or more late. 

And at least one longtime fan said she became an ex-fan after meeting Nugent. 

Jackie Henry, 37, of Fruitport, reported a Thursday morning run-in with the Motor City Madman. Henry was waiting for Nugent outside the county building with a half-dozen other fans in hopes of getting her son's guitar autographed. 

A longtime fan herself, Henry stood by as Nugent signed a guitar for an excited fan. 

When Henry stepped forward, she said she was greeted with a profane outburst. According to Henry, Nugent told her, "I won't sign 'em 'cause the (blankety-blanks) will end up on eBay, and y'all can kiss my (blank)." 

"Then he walked off," Henry said. 

"I've listened to him a lot and gone to four or five of his concerts. My kids listen to him and then he pulls that," Henry said. "Forget it. I'm done with him." 

The world according to Ted 

Nugent is chock-full of opinions, and not shy about sharing them. And this doesn't apply only to his conservative, big-picture political views. 

Waiting for court to begin or during breaks, sitting in an easy chair or walking around in the outer offices of Circuit Judge Timothy G. Hicks, Nugent engages easily in informal, no-notes conversations with a newspaper reporter, lawyers, sheriff's deputies, court staff, whoever is around. 

Nugent does much of the talking. Judgments abound; sarcasm flies. 

Legal system: In what he says is his first courthouse experience, Nugent professes amazement at what he considers the illogic and glacial pace of the law. If he were a lawyer, he's sure he'd quickly cut through the bull. He'd especially like to be a judge. If he were, a case like his would have been solved in 20 minutes, he says. 

Court security: He shakes his head at the low level of courthouse security, especially in the wake of the recent courthouse murders of a judge and others in Atlanta. 

Nugent -- a gun and bowhunting enthusiast who sometimes works with law enforcement in anti-drug and gun-safety programs -- couldn't believe how un-thorough his own metal-detector "wanding" by security personnel was at the Muskegon courthouse entrance. "Maybe they're going easy because of who I am. But guitar players have been known to snap." 

School shootings: The stream of conversation flows to schoolhouse security in the wake of last week's Minnesota school shootings. He shakes his head at what he considers ridiculous school policies: unarmed security guards, such as the one shot to death last week; instructions to students to shut classroom doors and hide under desks if a gunman shows up. 

He said he's told his own teen-age son to ignore his teachers if that ever happens, smash out a window, jump out and run like hell for home. 

Education: Speaking of education, he can't abide teachers who tolerate "close enough" misspellings from their students for fear of stifling creativity or damaging self-esteem or hurting feelings. "You're supposed to be a teacher ... Be a teacher!" 

Plain talk: Speaking of not hurting feelings ... well, it isn't exactly a priority for Nugent. He considers bluntness a virtue, and its absence a flaw -- at least when trying to get through to people who are hurting themselves through drugs, laziness or lack of discipline. 

Quality brew: Nugent even has a solution to bad coffee. Unimpressed by the brew at Hicks' office, Nugent promised last Thursday to bring his own blend to court this week. 

On stage this week 

Part of Nugent's lawsuit claims his career has suffered because of the cancellation by the Muskegon Summer Celebration. But Friday he'll be sharing the stage with Destiny's Child, Kiss and Cedric the Entertainer in San Diego. 

The event won't make up for any of his alleged "lost income." The concert is a benefit for the troops at Camp Pendleton and Nugent won't be paid for "Rockin' The Corps."


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## dinoday (Feb 22, 2004)

I just read a judge ordered the festival to pay him $100,000.Anybody hear about this yet?


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Court-scratch fever: Ted wins

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1112370343169990.xml

Friday, April 01, 2005, By John S. Hausman, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER 
Jurors took barely 90 minutes -- including time spent eating lunch -- to find in favor of rocker Ted Nugent and award him just about the maximum amount they could Thursday in his lawsuit against Muskegon Summer Celebration for canceling his June 2003 concert: $100,000. 

The money will have to come out of festival coffers. Summer Celebration's liability insurance won't cover it. 

Of the total, $80,000 was the amount of money Nugent would have been paid had he played. The rest was the jurors' estimate of what he would have earned from sales of merchandise such as T-shirts and hats.

Although the technical issue that went to jurors was breach of contract, the underlying issue that caused Nugent to sue was what he considered false accusations that he is a racist. The Michigan native, a rock star since the 1970s, is perhaps best known for his 1977 hit "Cat-Scratch Fever." 

The start of the entire dispute was a Denver radio interview May 5, 2003, in which Nugent spoke words widely regarded as racial or national slurs. Nugent says the context in which he used the words was not derogatory. 

News reports on that interview -- starting with a Denver newspaper account that Nugent claimed was biased and inaccurate -- led to a Muskegon controversy and eventually to the concert cancellation. 

Nugent was still unhappy after the verdict, because earlier legal rulings had barred him from bringing to jurors the issue that meant most to him: his alleged loss of reputation as a result of what he said were worldwide news reports about the cancellation. 

"It's an extremely hollow victory," Nugent said. "The real points of contention here were not even allowed to be heard. 

"I was called a racist," Nugent said. "That toxic tag hangs on for a long, long time. The issue has always been reputation. ... I'm heart-broken." He blamed that alleged labeling on "political correctness." 

But Nugent still felt vindicated by the verdict. "The jury gave me the 100 percent maximum allowable under the judge's guidelines," he said. "Ted didn't win here today, the truth won." 

Nugent said the case has already cost him more than $100,000, between legal fees and travel expenses. 

Festival officials were guarded in their comments. 

"We thank the jury for their work," festival Executive Director Joe Austin said. "It's an interesting case. I didn't necessarily agree with the verdict, but life goes on." 

Austin wouldn't comment on the financial impact on the nonprofit festival, saying officials will have to look at the books to figure it out. He said the festival's legal bills have not yet been calculated. 

Summer Celebration attorney Craig Noland said it was not decided yet whether the verdict would be appealed. 

Nugent's attorney, Cindy Rhodes Victor, said the same about whether Nugent would appeal the narrowing of the case to just breach of contract, which limited his potential damage award sharply. 

Despite the lawsuit and Nugent's angry words, there appeared to be no personal animosity between the rock star and festival leaders. Nugent and Austin shook hands following the verdict, after Austin approached him. In his closing argument, attorney Noland spoke respectfully of Nugent, for which Nugent thanked him afterward. After the verdict, Noland said to Victor, "Let's keep the lines of communication open." 

The festival canceled Nugent's scheduled June 30, 2003, concert on May 15 of that year, one day before 11-day festival passes were to go on sale requiring a final lineup. In a press release the next day, the cancellation was explained this way: "Any use of potentially offensive racial terms, such as those attributed recently to Ted Nugent, do not reflect the spirit of Muskegon or the Summer Celebration." 

Nugent insists he is not a racist and that his critics and the festival smeared his reputation by implying he was one. Festival officials deny they did so, and festival lawyer Craig Noland told jurors in his opening statement last week that festival officials didn't consider Nugent a racist and didn't call him one. 

But reputation was not an issue in the jury deliberations, although it appeared to be part of the case until the very last day of trial. 

Earlier Thursday, Circuit Judge Timothy G. Hicks granted the festival's motion for a "directed verdict" throwing out two other counts -- unfair competition and unjust enrichment -- that did involve loss of reputation and could have meant a much bigger award, potentially in the high six figures. 

Last September, Hicks dismissed the count that meant most to Nugent -- defamation of character -- ruling that no evidence supported it. 

The six jurors in the all-white panel were unanimous and swift in their verdict, which came in the form of written answers to six questions. 

Essentially the jury decided Summer Celebration and Nugent had an oral contract, even though no documents had been signed by the time the concert was canceled; that the festival broke the contract by canceling; and that the cancellation was not justified by anything Nugent or his agents did. The last three questions involved damages, and there the jurors went for the most Nugent's side asked for. 

The festival never directly argued that Nugent's own words justified canceling his show. Defense arguments focused chiefly on the point that no written contract had been signed by the cancellation date. 

Nugent's side countered with testimony that oral contracts are the norm in the concert business. 

Defense witnesses also testified that they felt justified in canceling because they feared disruptive and divisive protests at the family-oriented festival, generated by the news accounts -- accurate or not -- about Nugent's words. Festival leaders argued that they were not getting help from Nugent's camp in quelling the controversy, and -- faced with the pass deadline -- they felt forced to cancel. 

No independent proof exists of what Nugent said on the radio. No tape or transcript of the Denver interview exists, despite festival officials' repeated efforts to obtain one after the controversy erupted and before the cancellation. 

However, Nugent acknowledges using the words "Jap"; g----, meaning Asians; and -- as a quotation of black entertainers -- the "n" word. He claims the context in which he used those words meant they were not slurs, especially because he did not call any specific person any of those terms. 

An Associated Press account of the radio show said the disc jockeys cut it short, a point festival officials said caused them particular concern. Nugent denies that happened. 

At a news conference after the verdict, all six jurors said they agreed that the two sides had a valid contract. 

But the "racist" label was also on the minds of at least some jurors. 

"The big thing to me is, that's probably about the worst label you can put on people, and there's no proof of it," said jury foreman Cory Mollema. Given the lack of a transcript, "They pretty much showed that there was zero evidence of anything Ted said at the radio station," Mollema said. 

Mollema said he was influenced by evidence Nugent's side presented about published lyrics in several songs by LL Cool J, a black rap artist who did play at the 2003 Summer Celebration -- including repeated variants of the "n" word as well as sexually graphic language. The festival did not cancel LL Cool J's concert. 

"They buried themselves instantly with that," Mollema said, particularly in light of festival officials' comments in their Nugent cancellation press release about Summer Celebration being a "family venue" and mentioning that "potentially offensive racial terms" had been "attributed" to Nugent. 

Nugent mingled with the jurors after the mid-afternoon verdict, thanking them and signing autographs. Afterward he left for a benefit performance today in San Diego on behalf of the U.S. Marines.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Festival's loss no surprise to observers 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1112370322169990.xml

Friday, April 01, 2005 , By Randy Rogoski, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

Awareness on the street about the star of Muskegon's first celebrity trial and the facts of the case ranged from uninformed to expert. 

Shoppers at The Lakes Mall who had been following the case of rock star Ted Nugent and his lawsuit with the Muskegon Summer Celebration committee weren't surprised by the outcome. A jury Thursday afternoon returned a quick verdict awarding Nugent $100,000 in his breach-of-contract suit against the summer festival. 

"I love Ted Nugent's music. I understand Nugent has to be taken in context. Everybody don't see it that way," said Mike Elijah, 49, who is African-American and a fan of the festival.

"Most people see things as black and white," Elijah said. 

Elijah said he agreed with Summer Celebration's decision not to allow Nugent to appear at the festival after allegations he made racial slurs during a live Denver radio show. 

But "a contract is a contract," Elijah said. 

"They should have negotiated with him," said Elijah, who thought the ideal outcome would have avoided a lawsuit between the festival and Nugent. 

Another person at the mall also had an opinion about lawsuits. 

"I hate lawsuits, but if you have 'The Nuge' and don't expect a controversy, you're being silly," said Steve Meyer, 40, who is white. 

Meyer was visiting with his family from Ann Arbor, and said he was familiar with Nugent and his act. He listened to Nugent's radio show during its run over various Detroit area stations. 

"Ted says what he wants, and I agree with a lot of what he says," Meyer said. 

One Nugent fan at the mall said he was disappointed by the canceled concert although he has already seen the "Motor city Madman" in concert four times. 

"I was upset when they canceled him. (Nugent's scheduled appearance is) why I bought the (11-day festival) passes," said Ned Austin, 44, a white man wearing a "Whitetails Unlimited" cap over his long hair. 

"I like his hunting point of view. Nugent does a lot for kids with that and his anti-drug program," Austin said. 

Austin said he remembered one Nugent concert where he seemed to be promoting vigilantism after a spate of carjacking incidents. 

" 'I'd lay 'em open and leave 'em in the street,' " Austin recalled Nugent saying about carjackers, who steal vehicles at gunpoint. 

Austin said Nugent was just making his point in a graphic way that carjacking is a crime and should be stopped. 

Austin said he understands how people could take a Nugent remark out of context, which is what he thinks happened during the Denver radio show that led to the controversy over Nugent's canceled booking at Summer Celebration. 

"The Summer Celebration should stand behind their word," said Austin, "the jury did the right thing" to award Nugent $100,000. 

When The Chronicle approached people less than 40 years of age, there were looks of bewilderment. 

Several teenagers asked for comment about the Nugent case were unable to do so without first receiving a briefing that Nugent was once a rock star. 

A young family with three children under 3 years of age was approached for comment. 

Scott, who is 32, declined to give his last name. Scott said he was down to working 55 hours per week in the restaurant business, and had little time to follow the news. 

Scott said that he was unfamiliar with the Nugent story, but he did have a strong opinion about the Terri Schiavo case. 

After a short briefing about the Nugent matter, Scott said he didn't have an opinion about Nugent's behavior. 

Regarding the Summer Celebration losing its lawsuit, Scott said, "that's breach of contract. Business is business." 

Another person randomly approached for comment had an expert opinion from a legal standpoint. 

A "classic rock" fan who works as an attorney and declined to be named said he knew Nugent's case was a winner. 

"It was a matter of how much" the jury would award, the attorney said.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Nugent's next visit may be for concert 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1112370301169990.xml

Friday, April 01, 2005 , FROM LOCAL REPORTS

No hard feelings? 

Both Ted Nugent and Muskegon Summer Celebration officials say Nugent may yet play at the festival, possibly this year, despite a lawsuit the 56-year-old rocker just won against the festival. 

Nugent said Thursday he'd still be happy to perform at the festival if the opportunity arises. "Sure, it transcends them and us," Nugent said. "I want to rock. I don't rock for promoters, I rock for people.

"I would love to play Muskegon again. I expect I shall." 

And festival officials evidently have no grudge against Nugent. "We won't rule anything out," Executive Director Joe Austin said this morning. "We have a board meeting next week, and that topic will probably be brought up."


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## Hunter333 (Jan 19, 2000)

Interesting, I hadnt heard the LL Cool J angle..... That and there wasnt any printed "evidence?"


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Ted Nugent buys the Chronicle
http://members.aol.com/ov4truth/images/chronicle.jpg


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