Amy Helm, singer-songwriter and daughter of late Band member Levon Helm, has been accused of self-dealing, trademark infringement, and causing $2 million in damages to Levon Helm Studios (LHS), among other charges, according to a new lawsuit filed in federal court on Monday, August 10.
In a 61-page complaint obtained by Pitchfork, LHS claims Amy Helm charged $400,000 to the studio to cover personal expenses and took an additional $200,000 from the Levon Helm Estate, including from an LLC used to distribute royalties from Levon’s final albums, thereby preventing the Estate from sending money to those who worked on the projects. The suit further claims Amy infringed on the name Midnight Ramble—a concert series her father hosted at LHS and continued under Amy’s leadership after his death—by creating her own trademark, Helm Family Midnight Ramble, and then diverting the revenue into her own company.
Pitchfork has reached out to representatives of Levon Helm Studios. A representative of Amy Helm’s declined to comment.
The news follows an ongoing dispute that began earlier this year between Amy; her stepmother and Levon’s widow, Sandra Helm; and two additional LHS shareholders, Brian Parillo and Barbara O’Brien. In May, Amy was removed by the other three parties as president of LHS (also known as “the Barn”) for alleged mismanagement. Amy, in turn, accused Parillo of financial exploitation and elder abuse of Sandra in a June court filing. Parillo has denied the charges. Following Amy’s removal, police were called to the Barn in Woodstock over an alleged physical dispute between Parillo and Amy. Charges were never filed.
In an interview last month with the Overlook, Sandra responded to Amy’s initial claims, stating, “I didn’t like that they wanted to portray Brian like some kind of a puppet master or Svengali that came in and overtook my mind. It’s been blown out of proportion. I just wanted to restructure Levon Helm Studios and bring it back to the glory days. And it’s as simple as that.”
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