Friday, December 5, 2008
Hot Goss The Raconteurs' Little Jack Lawrence: Lawsuit Update
Posted by Steve Haruch on Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 11:22 AM
In what has since become a rather tortuous and heavily-updated post, I attempted to simply clarify the facts regarding Raconteurs bass player Jack Lawrence and his lawsuit against his ex-girlfriend, Kelli Craig. Now that you can hardly read that entry because of all the strikethroughs and updates of updates, I suppose I should try to clarify my clarification.
First, the New York Post published this story in the sometimes truth-challenged "Page Six" column, which claims that Lawrence is suing his ex-girlfriend (whom the article incorrectly identifies as "Kelly"), for $10,000 in back rent.
Since this item was published by the Post for anyone to read, I thought it was fair to give Jack Lawrence a chance to respond in a public forum. So, I contacted the Raconteurs' publicity company and received this response: "The New York Post 'Page Six' item is entirely fabricated and untrue. The band do not have a comment, as it's such unmitigated garbage it's not worth their time. However, you may quote me if you like."
Thinking that was that--and assuming that meant there was no lawsuit of any kind--I posted this response, along with a link to the original Post story. As it turned out, that was not that.
Around 3 a.m. someone saying she was the ex-girlfriend posted a comment that begins with this statement: "hi...this is kelli craig, the ex-girlfriend of "little" jack lawrence. yes, he DID sue me for my house (which is a matter of public record)...." Ms. Craig has since contacted the Scene and claims that she did not leave the comment. "I know who it was, and they were just trying to stick up for me," she says. In either case, I took that comment seriously as a challenge to the truth of what I had posted (that there was no lawsuit), so I updated the entry to reflect that Cream was looking into the matter further.
I called the Davidson County Clerk yesterday and inquired as to whether there is, in fact, a lawsuit. I was told there is one pending, docket No. 08GT10615, naming Jack Lawrence as the plaintiff and Kelli Craig the defendant. I updated the entry to reflect this fact and then obtained the warrant from the General Sessions Court. When I contacted Lawrence's attorney about the case, he said, "I can't comment on that."
Court documents since obtained by the Scene indicate that Jack Lawrence filed two warrants. The first is for possession of real property (the house he shared with Kelli Craig), the other for immediate possession of personal property--including several musical instruments, records and "6 suits (1 Prada, 1 Mark Jacobs [sic], Random Others)"--claimed to have a total value of $10,000. That's what the Post story got bizarrely wrong, though the dollar amount is correct. There is also a suit that was filed by Kelli Craig against Jack Lawrence on Tuesday.
A follow-up with The Raconteurs' publicity yielded this reply: "Nothing the Post wrote in that item is true. Any legal proceedings are the result of Little Jack attempting to have his property returned."
So, to recap:
1. NY Post said Jack Lawrence is suing his ex-girlfriend, Kelli Craig, for $10K in back rent.
2. The Raconteurs' publicist said that's bullshit, which I took to mean Jack Lawrence is not suing Kelli Craig.
3. Jack Lawrence is suing Kelli Craig, but not for back rent.
4. Kelli Craig is also suing Jack Lawrence.
Comments (31)
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"I know who it was, and they were just trying to stick up for me,"
whoever "it" was: you shouldn't impersonate someone to stick up for them.
Nah, if this were "Monk" there would be a dead stranger in the house wearing one of those fancy suits. This is more along the lines of a bad "Ally McBeal." Maybe "Entourage?"
Nah, Trashley, I think Entourage is way funnier than all of this. Well...up until this season. This is all sad, and makes me feel uncomfortable to read...like Wife Swap or Rock of Love or something.
yeah... i dunno about all this dirty laundry business. it's fun and games when folks are on here bashing skinny white belts and saying how much they hate (insert band the independently run nashville cream blog likes here) but this seems to be a personal situation that just plain sucks and doesn't really seem to affect nashville's music scene other than the folks directly involved. i heard about this a little while back but when i saw the previous post i cringed. it'd be one thing if it were kid rock getting sued by waffle house or something. just my opinion.
Unfortunately for those involved, this is no longer a private matter and is part of the public record, but that's not my doing.
The only reason I pursued this at all is because the New York Post published a story that the band's publicist refuted. I just wanted to post the actual facts of the case so that the Post's story, which is not entirely true, was not the only one out there.
yeah, little jack lawrence cheated on his ex-girlfriend with Chris Slack.
KIDDING.
The Cream absolutely should be covering this. As Steve said, it's a matter of public record, it's getting picked up by places like the NY Post, it's about a local musician suing and being sued. It's not pretty, but it's worth a post on a Nashville music blog; the Cream wouldn't be doing it's job if it didn't.
And remember, all of this information, especially the nasty details, wouldn't be known to the world - including the Post - if the girlfriend had not published it in myspace and facebook bulletins to begin with. She wanted the dirty laundry aired, and now, it is.
You musician types don't get to pick and choose what's publicized about you. Get over yourselves. If you want to sue somebody, you have to file a piece of paper at the courthouse, which is a public place. If it winds up on a blog, that's tough titty.
all of that is true.... still makes me cringe to see. hope they manage to figure all that out.
I have known Kelli and Jack equally as long. I am friends with both of them. However, when I was made aware of his lawsuit against her, it made me sick. Jack was always a kind person to me, which makes what I'm about to say difficult for me. I am astonished that Jack betrayed Kelli, Kelli is a person who honestly believed in and loved Jack...for many, many years. This wasn't merely a boyfriend/girlfriend situation...This was a life partnership. I am saddened that the Jack Lawrence that I knew and admired turned his back on everything that he once believed in, especially his hometown of Cincinnati. Such a sad end to such a once inspiring story. bk
all of these pro kelli comments are just kelli herself impersonating
other people supposedly "sticking up" for her.
they broke up and she won't leave his house. end of story.
if she would just leave it would all be over. it's not her house
she didn't pay a dime for it. it's all lj's. so start telling
the truth kelli and quit resorting to lies about jack's character
to keep from looking foolish.
what do you do when a girl you break up with refuses to leave?
i guess you have to go to court,
and listen to her blog about it being your fault.
hmmmmm.
a person who betrays his girlfriend of ten years with another person then tries to evict her from the home they shared doesn't have much "character" in my book.
She's on the deed to the home. Half of it belongs to her.
If he wants her out, he has to pay her half of the equity of the home.
Also, Kelli never said a word on her profiles until he sued her. She told him to give her a few months to get a new place (when she discovered that he had stepped out on their partnership), and he told her he wanted her to have the house.
That was it.
Then one Sunday, she was served with papers. So, if Jack wants to play this way, he is going to have to deal with the consequences of his actions.
To be honest, the sudden interest in getting the house back, reeks of Jo, who should be concentrating on her career and not ruining other people's lives.
Who gives a sh*t?...I mean, really...is this topic even worth mentioning anyways?
geez slobes, don't read it if you don't care... i think its slightly interesting enough to read.
This two-bit blog and newspaper really doesn't mean shit to anyone in the real world, so give it a rest.
Whether or not LJ is a slimy scumbag for suing for a house she paid for, she's really making herself look bad by being a drama queen about this and airing out her dirty laundry while her lackies (which I personally think are her) are out making sure LJ looks like the bad guy. Playing the victim makes you look just as bad as he's looking right now, and not very mature at all. Grow up and take the high road.
Just an FYI, LJ won't let you suck his dick because you post on a blog in his defense...... It won't even get a back stage pass..
JUST KEEPING IT REAL.
And just an FYI, I'm not here with the intentions of sucking Jack's dick, but thanks for playing. I'm here because I think there's more to the story than what "her friends" relayed to the gossip column of New York Post, and because I think this could've been handled by her a lot better.
JUST KEEPING IT REAL.
I know both of them, and Kelli is a horrible person, and Jack is stupid for staying with her so long. She is a self-centered bitch, who brags about being on "Page Six".
Damn. I think it sucks that all this is public. Say what you want about public figures being subject to public analysis and criticism but I think people whose profession it is to be an entertainer shouldn't be subject to near complete public exposure of their personal life. I think most everyone who writes in defense of their right to publicize such crap isn't subject to it themselves.
People who write for the paper aren't comfortable with writing about this stuff because they are glad to throw themselves in the fire. It's because no one gives a shit what a writer or paparazzi does in their personal life. Don't judge what you aren't subject to because you don't know shit about it.
By the way, E TV is the fucking devil.
Jack kicked ass at Jerry Lee Lewis Sunday. I'm just sayin'. I hadn't ever seen him play and was quite impressed.
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