Tommy Vext Suing Ex-Manager, Alleges Racism + Conspiracy to Kick Him Out of Bad Wolves
UPDATE: Tommy Vext's former manager Allen Kovac has subsequently responded to the ex-Bad Wolves singer's lawsuit (and claims of racism) against him. Read the whole statement here.
Former Bad Wolves frontman Tommy Vext has filed a lawsuit against his former manager, and CEO and founder of Better Noise Music, Allen Kovac.
The lawsuit was filed for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, and is said to be suing defendant Kovac for more than $10 million. The singer, whose termination from the band came at the very beginning of this year, also claimed there was a conspiracy to have him kicked out of the group, per TMZ.
Vext claims Kovac, who was also identified as a co-founder of Bad Wolves, told him he was not "black enough" to be in the band due to his political ideologies and support of now ex-President Trump. Vext also claims Kovac openly used racial slurs, including the N-word, and devised a plan of action to force the singer out of the band.
Prior to his ouster, Vext made headlines for his public support of Donald Trump's re-election bid for President, while espousing his doubts about the severity of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns and masking laws that went into effect. The TMZ report claims Vext and Kovac clashed on these political ideologies.
It's also worth noting that around that same time, the singer denounced racism as a "manufactured" construct by the media in an anti-Semetic social media video infamously involving the use of multi-colored markers to explain conspiracy theories, while also claiming "I'm African-American. I've grown up in this country and I have not experienced actual racism. I've spent 20 years traveling through 48 states and ... 50 countries all over the world. We don't have a problem with race here."
He later backtracked on some statements made in the video, for which he originally stated these were his perceived conclusions after conducting interviews with an independent journalist, military personnel, entertainment industry professionals, a virologist and ex-Democrats.
"As per usual people failed to read the disclaimer that 'I am in no way a political scientist or sociologist and have no authority on the subject. And that I am not claiming anything I expressed as truth,'" Vext said in a clarification update.
The lawsuit also claims Kovac — who had "pull" in the music industry —contacted radio and streaming services to get them to stop playing Bad Wolves' music.
About the perceived intimidation tactics, the frontman said he felt it was "an executive showing he clearly felt so powerful as to think he could use the word with impunity."
Another allegation against Kovac is that there was an attempt to censor Vext and block him from publicly making political statements. It's also said that and that the manager made a failed attempt to buy the band.
Vext offered an exclusive comment to TMZ and also celebrated the media outlet's coverage of the lawsuit in an Instagram post.
"For several years I've poured all of my energy and passion into building Bad Wolves," he told the outlet. "We've toured the world several times and charted 6 billboard [No. 1] singles. All the while I've had to endure disparaging, manipulative and at times racially charged misconduct from my former manager Allen Kovak [sic] and his record company Better Noise Music."
"Allen has forced me out of my own band and is now attempting to slander and cancel me. After several failed attempts to settle amicably, I'm now forced to place this in the hands of the courts," added Vext.
See Kovac's response here.
On Instagram (seen below), he shared a screenshot of the news article and captioned it with sentiments against censorship, inferring his livelihood was destroyed over the above mentioned events.
Yesterday (July 25), in an Instagram Reels post, Vext shared a video clip from a solo show where he revealed that "absolutely no one in Bad Wolves played on (cover of The Cranberries' song) 'Zombie'" and he, in the caption, added that "none of the guitar players or the bassist played on the albums or wrote any Bad Wolves songs."
On Twitter (also seen below), Bad Wolves guitarist Doc Coyle commented on these statements and branded it, "The sad cries of an ego imploding."
In December of last year, the Superior Court of California granted Vext's ex-girlfriend Whitney Johns a two-year domestic violence restraining order. In the same timeframe in which the court's decision was handed down, Vext issued a statement noting that no criminal charges were filed against him, acknowledging he "lost a civil case" however.