Friday, April 13, 2012

Montreal Songwriter Leonard Cohen's Manager Found Guilty of Harrassment

She really does sound like a bit of a nut,(not to mention thief who stole $5m from Leonard Cohen) Oh well maybe that's the end of her lunacy,let's hope so.At least Mr Cohen has resurrected his career from his 15 year hiatus,& for that I suppose we owe 'her' thanks.....lol                                           

               LOS ANGELES - Leonard Cohen’s ex-manager was found guilty Thursday of harassing the veteran singer, after a week-long trial in which hundreds of expletive-laced messages were read out in court.

Kelley Lynch, who had a 17-year professional relationship with the singer and was briefly his lover, was also convicted of breaching restraining orders against contacting him, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Cohen fired Kelley Lynch in 2004, accusing her stealing some $5 million from him while he lived in a monastery near Los Angeles, forcing him to go back on the road despite being over 70 years old.

He sued her in 2005, and a judge ordered her to pay him $9.5 million. But the veteran singer — whose hits include “Suzanne” and “Hallelujah” — came out of retirement in part to rebuild his finances.

Lynch has been on trial in Los Angeles Superior Court since last week on charges of harassing Cohen, who testified in court that she “routinely accused me of being a drug addict and many other things.”

Voice-mails and emails that prosecutors say are from Lynch, 55, have been played in court for the last two days. Cohen testified that they mentioned the white supremacist Aryan Nations and accused Cohen of using drugs.

“Leonard Norman Cohen should be taken before a firing squad and shot,” she was quoted as saying in one email, read out by the singer himself at the request of the judge.

In often expletive-laden language — and mentioning other music figures including Phil Spector and Bob Dylan — she also accused him of being a thief, greedy and a drug addict, while casting aspersions on his sexual performance.

Following the 2005 lawsuit, and with his finances in disarray, Cohen returned to performing in 2008 after a 15-year gap. He has since continued to tour with great success, resurrecting his career and reputation worldwide.

Lynch is in custody in lieu of $25,000 bail. Her lawyer, Michael Kelly, said last week that the case “is very much about relationships and how relationships oftentimes get messy,” according to the LA Times.

She will be sentenced next week, the newspaper said.

                                   ...Cheers ! Have Fun & Remember Verdun,    - Les

7 comments:

Les F said...

This is an old partial segment from an NFB film,with Leonard Cohen sitting in a park in Montreal and being down to earth.


HF&RV - Les

Bob Bisnett said...

What a wonderful little gem of a clip, Les! I love Leonard. God bless him. When Pierre Trudeau was dying, Leonard came up from LA where he was at the time and stayed with Pierre and read poetry to him. Fantastic man.

BobB

Les F said...

Wow I had never heard that,that is a neat piece of information......Thanks
Cheers ! HF&RV - Les

Bob Bisnett said...

I'm a huge Leonard Cohen fan from the late 60's. I have a very dear friend who I met in Montreal in the 60's. His name is Andre. Andre now lives in Vancouver and I live in Toronto. We share a passion for music. Andre earns his living performing. He is a talented guitarist. When he and his wife play down this way, they stay with me in Toronto. They spend about 1 or 2 months a year with us. And I am blessed to have them in my life after all these years. When here, they often travel to Montreal for a couple of gigs as well.... and to visit family. A couple of years ago, Andre and his wife Qiu Xia (pronounced Too Sha) had a gig at Theatre St. Denis as I recall. They were in Montreal for the weekend. I stayed back in Toronto. When Andre returned, he let himself into the house and I got up to meet them at the front door. He smiled....held out his hand and said "touch the hand that touched the poet's hand, man". I replied "the poet?" He said "Yes". I stopped and said......"not Leonard?" Who else could it be? Andre beamed and answered YES!. They had been on the Main before their show and decided to go into an old grocery store to buy some fruit to eat. Who should be walking out, but the man himself. Andre stopped him and said "you're Leonard Cohen". Leonard answered "Yes I am " in that voice we all know. They spoke briefly about Leonard's recent induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (where k.d. Lang did a killer version of Halleluiah) and then went on their separate ways. I envy Andre for that meeting. But, I'm sure I couldn't have thought of anything to say either. I've seen Leonard perform 3 times and each time was magical.

BobB

Les F said...

Cool story indeed, most people don't know that Leonard Cohen has written a few books on poetry alone, aside from his songs....As a kid in high school we studied a few of Leonard Cohen's songs,.......that was the first I'd really heard of him (late late 60's ) and then through the years I was reintorduced through several of his songs,never mainstream stuff in those days,until later when albums like 'The Future' came out ( would tha be late 80's early 90's ??) However I do like his music,.I do have a few of his youtube video's on my own site,just things that strike me once in a while I like to hear.......
Cheers ! HF&RV - Les
Ahh yes KD Langs version is incredible..................

Les F said...

.and here of course is K.D.Langs version done at the Juno Awards in Winnipeg.....she did a very good version at the Olympics too in 2010,however I still like this cover here:

Les F said...

"I was born like this , I had no choice, I was born with the gift of a golden voice"