Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer has been accused of breach of contract by its former management company.
YM&U Group filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court last week, Billboard reported on Wednesday, seeking $2.5 million U.S. plus unspecified punitive damages.
The company alleges that 5SOS has refused to pay commissions for several deals it negotiated for the band. It claims the band’s current manager Benjamin Evans “acted with fraud, malice, or oppression” by encouraging Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, Ashton Irwin and Michael Clifford not to pay.
5SOS was managed by YM&U from February to September. The lawsuit claims after the company invoiced the band for $825,000 U.S. it was informed that the band was not going to pay.
“The only reason given was 5SOS’s attorney’s frivolous assertion that the timing of 5SOS’s termination of plaintiff somehow entitled 5SOS to refuse to pay plaintiff for the valuable services they had induced plaintiff to provide,” it reads.
Neither 5SOS or Evans have commented publicly on the allegations, which have yet to be proven in court.