An explosive lawsuit has been filed by Kyle Christner, the former bassist of Linkin Park, alleging that he was never compensated for his work.
The suit names band members Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, Joe Hahn, and Warner Records as defendants, according to documents obtained by Radar Online.
The Start of Linkin Park
Christner lodged a lawsuit alleging he was part of Linkin Park when the bank first arranged their major record deal in 1999. He also claimed that Chester Bennington joined shortly after his induction to the band.
Christner confirmed he was a pivotal contributor to the band, having co-written and performed on their 1999 EP "Hybrid Theory." Unfortunately, in October of 1999, Christner revealed he was removed from the group without further clarification.
Following his dismissal, Christner revealed that all ties between him and the group members were severed.
In 2000, "Hybrid Theory "saw its debut as a studio album.
What Happened?
A year after the release of "Hybrid Theory," Christner noticed his name had been removed from the EP's credits.
He was surprised to discover that even its 20th-anniversary box set edition released by Linkin Park in 2020 excluded him despite his contributions still being featured on the album.
According to Christner, he had a hand in producing multiple songs found on the box set.
Per the document, Christner reportedly contributed bass playing to "Could Have Been," a previously unreleased song with over one million YouTube views.
His legal complaint stated that he is indeed an accomplished industry professional.
Christner's legal filings state that within this collection, known as "Box Set," there are three separate collections presented on compact disks: Forgotten Demos, B-Side Rarities, and LPU Rarities. These collections consist of rare and unreleased tracks on which Christner plays. Remarkably, there is no attribution to him regarding this Box Set.
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No Credit
The lawsuit by Christner claims that he has not been given fair payment or credited for his work with Linkin Park despite the band allegedly profiting from his creative input.
He stated that in April 2023, a group management rep reached out to him, mentioning potential royalties for their 20th anniversary release.
Before signing the agreement, Christner wanted to know how much he was getting out of it. All he got in response was silence.
After this, the artist said Linkin Park denied involvement with the album.
His lawsuit claims that "Defendants have never given Christner proper credit for his creative contributions to Linkin Park or named him in any copyright registration." and that "Defendants have wrongfully profited at Christner's expense."
Tragically, in 2017, the world lost Linkin Park's lead singer Chester Bennington due to suicide. Sadly, it was no secret that he had battled drug and alcohol addiction for many years.
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