Courtney Love is at the center of a lawsuit that claims she was the mastermind of a murder plot over Kurt Cobain’s 1959 Martin guitar.
Her former son-in-law alleges that she tried to have him killed in an attempt to repossess the late Nirvana frontman’s iconic “Unplugged” guitar, according to a civil complaint obtained by Court House News and People.
Kurt Cobain playing his 1959 Martin D-18E guitar, which is thought to be worth millions of dollars, during Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged” concert in November 1993.
Musician Isaiah Silva, the ex-husband of Frances Bean Cobain — the only daughter of Love and the Nirvana frontman — claims that the 53-year-old singer-actress orchestrated a plot in which a few men broke into his home and “burglarized, robbed, assaulted, sexually battered, kidnapped and attempted to murder him,” according to the complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 25.
The co-defendants named in the suit include “13 Reasons Why” actor Ross Butler and Love’s manager, Sam Lutfi. Lutfi was once Britney Spear’s manager, but her parents claimed he was controlling her in 2007 and 2008 when she was hospitalized for “an evaluation.”
Silva said in the complaint that Frances Bean Cobain gave him the 1959 Martin D-18E guitar her father played during Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged” concert in 1993 and that he got to keep it as part of their divorce settlement. Cobain died of suicide a year after this legendary performance.
The complaint alleges that in June 2016, Lutfi, Butler and a man named Yan Yukhtman broke into Silva’s house, forced him into a black Cadillac Escalade and tried to take him away. It also says that Lutfi grabbed Silva by the genitals through his pants and said, “Listen, fag, calm the fuck down or we’ll drag you upstairs and take turns fucking you.”
The lawsuit says that one of Silva’s friends was at his home at the time of the incident and called 911. The friend then blocked the Escalade with his own vehicle. When the police arrived, all the men were forced out of the Escalade with their hands up.
Silva claims that Lutfi told him that if he did not convince the officers that the men were old college friends playing a prank on Silva, he would kill him, his mother and his 7-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. The complaint also includes copies of emails and texts sent that night, one of which appears to show Lutfi trying to get Silva to sign a divorce agreement that would give the guitar back to Love and Frances Bean Cobain.
The text reportedly reads: “this agreement is your one and only choice, consider it your lifeline.”
Five days later, Silva filed a report with Los Angeles Police Department, saying that he believed he would have been killed if the police hadn’t been called. The police report says a cellphone was stolen and a glass door was damaged.
HuffPost has reached out to Love and Butler for comment.
Courtney Love settles lawsuit with ex-son-in-law
Comment: Bet he got spousal support for keeping his mouth shut….NONDISCLOSURE CLAUSE…to get the money.
Los Angeles: US singer Courtney Love has settled a lawsuit with her ex-son-in-law over claims she planned to kill or kidnap him in a dispute about one of Kurt Cobain´s guitars.
A lawyer for the widow of the Nirvana frontman told a Los Angeles judge the two sides had reached an agreement.
Isaiah Silva — one-time husband of Love´s daughter — had filed suit in 2018 claiming Love had masterminded a plot to stage a break-in at his home.
Silva claimed several men acting at her behest broke into his home in 2016, pretending to be police officers.
The suit says Silva was dragged from the West Hollywood pad and bundled into a car, but was saved from what he claims would have been his murder by a visiting friend who blocked the vehicle and called the real cops.
Silva claimed in the court documents that Love ordered this crew to scare him into giving up a rare 1959 guitar that Kurt Cobain played on Nirvana´s “MTV Unplugged in New York” in 1993.
The guitar seemingly passed to Frances Bean Cobain — daughter of Love and Cobain — after the untimely death of the grunge icon, and formed part of the divorce battle when Bean Cobain and Silva split.
– $6 million guitar –
Love, 57, had always maintained that she was not involved with the alleged events at Silva´s home.
“I never conspired with anyone else to murder or kidnap Silva or take possession of the guitar,” Love said in a related court case.
The guitar — a D-18E Martin — sold at auction in Los Angeles in 2020 for $6 million.
Terms of the settlement between Love and Silva, lead singer for the alt-rock band The Eeries, were not revealed.
Love´s tempestuous marriage to Kurt Cobain was one of the defining relationships of the 1990s, fuelled by drugs and depression.
It erupted at the start of the decade, and dominated sections of the music and celebrity press with stories of epic arguments and heroin binges.
His suicide in 1994 at the age of 27 left a profound hole in the world of music, with many Nirvana fans blaming her for the tragedy.
Nirvana´s intelligent, angst-ridden lyrics overlaid on throbbing guitars made them one of the biggest bands of the decade.
Their 1993 “MTV Unplugged in New York” was a seminal performances for an entire generation of music fans, and produced what is widely regarded as one of the best live albums of its era.
Frances Bean Cobain’s Ex Isaiah Silva Claims Courtney Love Conspired to Kill Him in New Lawsuit
He claims she and her associates conspired to try and retrieve one of Kurt Cobain’s famous guitars he won in a divorce settlement
GVK/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
Frances Bean Cobain‘s ex Isaiah Silva accuses her mother Courtney Love of helping to conspire to have him killed in order to retrieve one of Kurt Cobain‘s famous guitars.
Earlier this month, after a two-year legal battle, Frances and Isaiah finalized a divorce to end their almost four-year marriage. They had reached a settlement, under which Isaiah would keep her late father’s 1959 Martin D-18E guitar, which he played during his band Nirvana‘s iconic 1993 MTV Unplugged performance. Isaiah had said she had given him the instrument as a gift, a claim she denied.
Late last week, Isaiah sued Courtney, her manager Sam Lutfi—known for his previous dealings with Britney Spears and Amanda Bynes, his alleged associate 13 Reasons Why and Riverdale star Ross Butler, as well as several other associates, accusing them of planning to kill him in order to retrieve the guitar almost two years ago. They have not commented.
Rachel Murray/Getty Images for GLAADIsaiah states in the court papers that Frances gave him the instrument six months before their 2014 marriage and told him the guitar was a means for him to “form a bond” with Kurt and to welcome him into her family. Isaiah said in his lawsuit he was overjoyed with the gift and immediately texted the news to friends.
Frances filed for divorce in March 2016 and moved out of their home. Isaiah says in the lawsuit that the following June, Sam, Ross and an associate entered his home after breaking glass in a door with a rock, violently assaulted him, then dragged him outside and forced him into the back seat of a car. The lawsuit states that his band mate witnessed the incident and that after the men took him outside, he drove his car to block them from leaving the area. Police then arrived, as the security alarm had been triggered, he said.
Isaiah’s lawsuit states that Sam made threats regarding his family, including his daughter, and “concocted a false story” for him to repeat —that the three men were friends from college and that they had played a prank on him, of which his band mate was unaware. He alleges he told the officers what Sam told him to say and that they then left, leaving him with the men, who then allegedly held him hostage for several hours. He said Sam wanted to force him to disclose the location of Kurt’s guitar and alternated between making threats and offering bribes.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesHe alleges the three left the home just before dawn, after Sam allegedly told him he needed to sign a settlement agreement and ordered him to remain inside until he did. Isaiah’s lawsuit states his mother had earlier learned of the incident, as his band mate had texted her, and that she and his sister picked him up and brought him to his family’s home. He alleges that during the next two weeks, Sam began threatening and harassing his them and other family members, including his daughter. Isaiah alleges he later obtained a temporary restraining order against Sam.
In his lawsuit, Isaiah also accuses Sam of providing narcotics and illicit benzodiazepines to Frances and Courtney while he and his now-ex were dating and living together.
Isaiah’s lawsuit states that Ross routinely delivered the man’s drugs to Frances. He also states in his lawsuit that the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said that Ross could not be questioned over the lawsuit “because he fled to Canada immediately afterward.” The actor has not commented. Riverdale films in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, a separate source tells E! News, “Isaiah has a frightening obsession with Kurt Cobain and will stop at nothing to try and gain possession of Kurt’s belongings as witnessed in this baseless lawsuit in which he completely made up absurd unimaginable and somewhat laughable allegations to support his delusions.”
“Kurt would not want this and Courtney will not allow any of it,” the source continues. “Frances and the family are prepared to fight with a fury of unprecedented legal force and they will prevail.”
