Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, who wrote the band’s songs ‘Break Stuff’ and ‘Nookie’ and also fronts his own band Big Dumb Face, is using his anger at how an album review interpreted his ex-wife’s latest record as a basis to file a lawsuit against him. , accusing him of defamation. The filing also cites an interview ex-wife Karre Callaway (aka indie rocker Queen Kwong) gave to the same writer for another publication. Callaway rose to fame using the name Queen Kwong nearly a decade ago after her moody, personal music caught the ear of Trent Reznor; the band toured with Nine Inch Nails and played his music Peaky Blinders. Borland’s presentation, which was obtained Rolling Stone, claims he tried to win his name by talking about himself.
A judge in Wayne County, Michigan’s Third Judicial District, family separation court, will hear Borland’s motion Tuesday morning. Borland specifically asked Callaway to “show cause why he should not be held in contempt for his refusal to comply with this court’s judgment [the divorce decree]”. The divorce settlement, signed by the two parties in 2020, states that “neither party shall make any speeches, interviews, or public statements that disparage the other party.”
A 2022 Bandcamp Daily article about Callaway, cited in Borland’s filings, claimed that Borland gave Callaway three days to leave their Detroit-area marital home with several rescue cats after the marriage collapsed. He was quoted as saying that one of the cats, Daisy, whom he eulogized on his album The Mourning Song, “died a week after he left because she was the only one who could take care of him.” Borland’s application also requires review Flood his 2022 album magazine, Couples onlyby the same author, Mischa Perlman echoed those claims and suggested one song, “Emdr Atm,” “details Ms. Callaway’s claims of alleged ‘gaslighting’ she received from Mr. Borland.”
The document says: “These statements deliberately do what Ms. Callaway was expressly prohibited from doing. they adversely affect Mr. Borland’s public image and reputation, which he has built over a career of more than twenty years” and are an attempt to “destroy Mr. Borland’s extraordinary and hard-won professional reputation.” Borland is asking for $5,000 in “costs and attorneys’ fees” and for the court to impose sanctions against Callaway.
The review, which provides background information on Queen Kwong’s songs, states: “She was living with him in Detroit, with a whole bunch of cats that they had rescued but had to move out of the house they had turned into a home. . She was given three days to move, give homes to all the cats, say goodbye to life, marriage and the husband she thought she knew. He was also ostracized by members of the music industry who felt they had more to gain by being friends with Borland than with him.”
Callaway, who married Borland in October 2016 and filed for divorce in January 2019, is standing by her comments. “TRUTH CANNOT be defamatory,” he wrote in his statement Rolling Stone. “This action is just a tactic to intimidate, intimidate and silence me. This is an attempt to ruin me financially, drain my physical well-being and undermine my credibility with the clear intention of damaging my career. This is a general attack on freedom of speech and artistic expression. What does it mean for indie musicians like me who can’t even afford to tour these days to worry about frivolous lawsuits? What does this mean for women who are already afraid to tell their stories? What does it mean for journalists if their words can silence the very women they are trying to give a platform to?”
“Mr. Borland filed a post-judgment motion asking the Wayne County, Michigan Family Court to enforce the Divorce Specific Provisions that both parties agreed to uphold as part of the 2020 divorce settlement,” said the guitarist’s attorney, B. Andrew Rifkin. Rolling Stone. “Mr. Borland’s post-conviction motion has nothing to do with any matter other than what each party agreed to do as part of the settlement of their 2019 divorce case. The parties’ divorce decree requires both Mr. Borland and Ms. Callaway to refrain from “…[ing] speeches given[ing] interviews, or mac[ing] statements that discredit the other side.” Mr. Borland fully complied with that provision, and he is asking the Family Court to clarify to Ms. Callaway that she has the same obligation Mr. Borland did.
“Mr. Borland wishes Ms. Callaway the best in her career,” continues Rifkin. “He does not want to limit her artistic expression, but as part of their divorce settlement, both parties have agreed to keep their opinions of their divorce private and to refrain from negative public comments about the other party.”
During their marriage, Borland briefly played guitar in Queen Kwong’s touring band. It is unclear why he left the group, but in 2017 NME: in an interview, he suggested that he regrets being tied to his work. “[Being in Limp Bizkit has] has definitely been devastating to my wife’s indie band Queen Kwong,” he said. “It cost him to contact me.”
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