Amy Helm, the daughter of late drummer and singer of The Band Levon Helm, has been accused of causing $2million (£1.48million) in damages to a studio bearing her father’s name.
The lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in New York on Monday (August 10), claims Amy allegedly financially mismanaged her tenure as president of the Levon Helm Studios between 2017 and 2026.
According to court documents, a recent review of the studio’s financial records “uncovered millions of dollars of self-dealing transactions apparently authorised by Amy, or for her benefit.”
The suit also claims that she infringed on the name Midnight Ramble, a concert series her father hosted at LHS and continued under her leadership after his death, by creating her own trademark, Helm Family Midnight Ramble, allegedly in violation of the original name obtained in 2011. Levon Helm died in 2012, aged 71.
Allegations have also been made in relation to an altercation between her stepmother, Sandra Helm and Brian Parillo, a musician and longtime shareholder in the studios.
According to court documents, camera footage shows that Amy “spent hours berating” Sandra, “demanding that she withdraw support for the change in management.” Along with the security footage, the suit claims Parillo and others recorded portions of the alleged argument on their phones, and that, after Helm saw she was being filmed, she “cursed at Brian and shoved him,” reports Rolling Stone.
Police were believed to have been called to the studio at the time but no charges were filed.
Amy in turn has accused Parillo of manipulating Sandra, of “financial exploitation and elder abuse,” claims which Parillo has denied. He also claimed that Amy has denied him and other LHS shareholders access to corporate records, along with financial mismanagement.
“I unilaterally deny any and all of these baseless, spurious allegations. I have learned from my attorneys that there is now an index number associated with this filing, although the complaint itself is not loaded onto the court’s website. My legal team finds it interesting to note that media received this filing a full day before it was received by the court. It is clear what the intention is behind this filing: publicity,” Amy said in a statement (via Rolling Stone).
“Once again, hustlers are attempting to scare and intimidate me, and once again, it is all a spin – the same garbage over and over again, spoon-fed to the media as an attempt to smear my name and make a cash grab. In other words: extortion.”
LHS claims Amy charged $400,000 (£295,734) to the studio to cover personal expenses and took an additional $200,000 (£147,867) from the Levon Helm Estate, including from a limited liability company used to distribute royalties from Levon’s final albums, thereby preventing the estate from sending money to those who worked on the projects.
Parillo said in a separate statement: “Levon and Sandy always treated me like family, and I felt the same about Amy. There’s no version of this I’m happy about. But Levon Helm Studios has obligations to its ticketholders, artists, and employees, and those obligations weren’t being met. Levon’s legacy isn’t honoured if this place falls apart.”
