Courtney Love Sued by Frances Bean Cobain's Ex-Husband for Alleged Kidnapping & Murder Plot
Courtney Love
Britney Spears' former manager Sam Lutfi is also a defendant in the lawsuit around a claimed attempt to regain possession of Kurt Cobain's iconic 'Unplugged' guitar.
Courtney Love is being sued by her daughter's ex-husband, alleging she conspired to have him murdered over ownership of her late husband Kurt Cobain's 1959 Martin D-18E guitar that was used during Nirvana's iconic MTV Unplugged in New York performance in 1993.
Along with several others, Sam Lutfi -- who managed Britney Spears during her public meltdown in 2007 -- is also named in the suit and accused of supplying illicit drugs to Love's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, as well as kidnapping, attempted murder, false imprisonment, extortion and more. Actor Ross Butler, star of 13 Reasons Why, is also accused of playing a role.
According
to the civil complaint filed in Los Angeles County, Love, Lutfi and
Butler entered into a criminal conspiracy to commit trespass, burglary,
home invasion, robbery, assault, battery, kidnapping and murder against
Silva, all in order to take possession of the guitar, which is believed
to be worth millions of dollars. Billboard has reached out to Love's rep for comment.
A source close to the family told Billboard, "Frances and the family are prepared to fight with a fury of unprecedented legal force and they will prevail."
Since Cobain filed for divorce from Silva in 2016, the guitar has
been the subject of public interest and a point of contention in the
couple's settlement. (The rare acoustic-electric 1959 Martin D-18E was
produced for just a year before being discontinued and the left-handed
Kurt Cobain had its bridge and nut adapted so he could play it upside
down.) As the press has followed the matter over the past couple years,
Love has spoken out on the subject, calling it a "treasured heirloom of the family" and saying, "It's not [Silva's] to take."
But,
according to the suit, the guitar was gifted to Silva by Cobain in 2014
six months before their wedding as a dating anniversary present,
marking a sentimental time in their turbulent relationship. The
documents go into great depth detailing Sivla's gift to Cobain for the
same anniversary -- an extravagant and heartfelt conversion of the
couple's spare bedroom designed, essentially, in tribute to Cobain and
her interests. The lawsuit also notes that Cobain needed Love's
permission to remove the Martin D-18E guitar from storage, as both of
their consent was required for such a decision.
As well, it is
described that Cobain never showed any interest in or asked that Silva
return the guitar when she initially left him in February 2016 and filed
for divorce a month later. Yet, according to Silva's suit, once Love
and her business manager and so-called "rottweiler" Lutfi got involved,
the battle over the guitar -- along with some property rights -- became
life-threatening.
Silva and Cobain began dating in 2010 and
started living together a year later. But, according to Silva's lawsuit,
when Love moved to Los Angeles to be closer to her daughter in 2012,
soon after Lutfi began supplying Cobain with narcotics and illicit
benzodiazepines, which Cobain and Lutfi referred to as "cookies." Often
the drugs would be delivered by Butler in secret, without Silva
knowing.
From there, according to Silva, Cobain developed an
addiction, which was supported by Lutfi, causing great strain to their
relationship and resulting in Silva ending their engagement at one
point. In 2014 the couple married, but Cobain's alleged drug use only
intensified over the years, leading up to a grand mal seizure later that
year that nearly killed Cobain at the couple's home while Silva was
there with his young daughter, Arlo. Still, according to the suit, her
drug use persisted leading up February 2016 when she disappeared from
the couple's home in West Hollywood, California.
As Silva and Cobain worked to amicably settle their divorce without
attorneys, the lawsuit says the guitar became a point of contention for
Love and Lutfi and the two "became obsessed with finding a way to
retrieve the guitar from Silva."
From there, Love, Lutfi, Butler
and a chauffeur named Yan Yukhtman allegedly hacked into Silva's
iMessage account and sent out messages "making it appear Silva was
despondent and on a mental precipice contemplating suicide." This was
allegedly part of a plan to commit a home invasion, kidnap Silva, murder
him, make it appear to be a suicide and recover the guitar, as well as
remove him from claims to the couple's house, another house they had
acquired for Silva's daughter Arlo and her mother and any spousal
support.
Silva reported the suspicious activity to the Los
Angeles Police Department, noting, according to the suit, that it
follows "a disturbingly similar pattern and course of conduct to the
modus operandi of Lutfi" in various previous harassment cases. From
there, things worsens, as Lutfi and Love allegedly began threatening
Silva's friends, family and bandmates in attempt to turn them against
Silva.
Shortly after midnight on June 3, 2016, according to the
lawsuit, Lutfi, Butler and Yukhtman broke into Silva's house and tried
to enter his bedroom -- where he had been watching a movie with a friend
-- claiming they were the police. Lutfi allegedly yelled at and
threatened the friend, telling him to leave, before Butler and Yukhtman
pushed him out of the house. Following some struggling, the documents
continue, Silvia was overpowered and then threatened to calm down by
Lutfi "grabbing Silva's genitals through his pants, and whispered to
Silva, 'Listen f----t, calm the fuck down or we'll drag you upstairs and
take turns fucking you.' In fear for his life, Silva tried to appear
calm and cooperative. However, he claims, Lutfi, Butler and Yukhtman
continued to threaten him and physically removed Silva from his Curson
Avenue residence against his will," forcing him into the back seat of a
Cadillac Escalade outside and driving off.
Silva's friend had
been outside calling 9-1-1 from his car and was able to drive ahead of
the Escalade, blocking its way on the narrow canyon road trying to
prevent Silva's captors from getting away, the suit claims. When police
arrived in cars and a helicopter overhead, Silva claims Lutfi "hurriedly
concocted a false story intended to prevent LAPD from arresting them"
and threatened the lives of Silva's family -- including his 7-year-old
daughter Arlo -- if he didn't go along with it. "In shock and fearing
for his life and the lives of his family and daughter," Silva agreed to
go along with Lutfi's story that they were old college friends and the
kidnapping had been a prank.
Were it not for the intervention of Silva's friend and the LAPD, the
suit says, "it is believed, based upon facts and evidence, that Silva
would have been taken to a secondary crime scene and murdered on June 3,
2016."
The lawsuit also several times tries to draw parallels
between the allegedly false narrative Love and her cohorts attempted to
establish around Silva with the often-speculated upon death of Kurt
Cobain. Silva claims that Kurt Cobain's mother Wendy O'Connor
confided in him that she was "keenly aware of the disturbing
correlations between his circumstances and those of O'Connor's late
son." She also said that she "believed Love to be involved in the
alleged suicide of her son, Kurt Cobain."
Once LAPD left the
scene, the suit claims Lutfi, Butler, Yukhtman and Silva returned to the
house, where Silva was held hostage for several hours while he was
threatened repeatedly over the location of the 1959 Martin D-18E guitar.
Silva eventually told Lutfi that the guitar was not there because he
was in the process of recording with his band. Eventually, Lutfi
allegedly changed his tactic to extorting Silva into signing a
settlement agreement looking to accomplish the original objectives of
their conspiracy with the help of attorney Marc Gans --
demanding Silva agree to surrender the guitar, any claim to the houses
and spousal support from Cobain, as well as all photographs and
recordings of Cobain he had acquired during their relationship and
marriage. In return, Lutfi said he had convinced Love and Cobain to
offer him $120,000 if Silva signed the agreement with those terms and
the harassment would end. Eventually, Lutfi left the house, where Silva
remained to scared to leave on his own.
Later that day, Silva's
mother and sister brought him and his daughter Arlo back to their home
in Orange County for safety. But Lutfi's harassment and threats
continued, according to the suit, as he tried to further pressure Silva
into signing the settlement agreement, including stalking him and his
family. As well, Lutfi allegedly sought to defame Silva and undermine
his claims to the guitar and property. According to the lawsuit, Lutfi
caused one of Silva's friends to lose his job at the Chateau Marmot,
posted a Craigslist ad with his daughter's puppy advertising a free dog
with her mother's phone number attached, and illegally rerouted Silva's
mail delivery to his own apartment.
Throughout it all, Silva
claims he was afraid to go to the police because of the constant threats
and he was convinced by Lutfi that he, Love and Cobain "controlled the
LAPD, judicial system, and media." Finally on June 8, 2016, he did file a
police report and obtained a temporary restraining order against Lutfi
later that month.
Silva and Cobain's divorce was finalized last
year and the two reached a settlement agreement earlier this year.
Silva's attorney Douglass Unger could not speak to
whether the harassment ended entirely following the restraining order,
but confirmed that under the settlement agreement Silva retained possession of the guitar, while Cobain won rights to the couple's property and was free from any spousal support.
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