Creed Why Their Fans Sued Them Over Scott Stapp's Performance

Creed: Why fans of the band sued them following a concert in Chicago, Illinois in 2002

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#creed #scottstapp #marktremonti

Have you guys ever went to a rock concert and been so unimpressed that you lierally wanted your money back? Well that's what happened in 2002 at a Creed show in Illinois. Not only that but a group of fans banded together and filed a class action lawsuit against the band and it made national headlines in the US and everywhere else in the world. What happened? Stay tuned for the full story.

In the late 90's and early 2000's Florida band Creed were one of the biggest rock acts on the planet. Starting out in 1994 Creed signed a record deal a few years later and by 1997 they released their debut record my own prison, which went 6x platinum in the states. They followed it up with 1999's Human Clay which was certified diamond selling over 10 million copies in the US and 20 million copies worldwide. Their follow up was 2001's Weathered, which didn't sell quite as well, but still went 6x platinum. While the band was on tour to support weathered Creed struggled largely due to frontman Scott Stapp's substance abuse problems, which were made worse by a car accident that saw the singer get addicted to pain medication. It all came to ahead in Rosemont, Illinois at the Allstate Arena in December of 2002.According to Stapp's 2012 biography he revealed at this point in time he was heavily using pain medication and drinking everyday. A group of fans were so upset with Creed's performance that night, specifically Stapp they sued the band for millions of dollars as part of a class-action lawsuit.
According to the chicago tribune the lawsuit claimed that Stapp was i quote intoxicated and/or medicated that he was unable to sing the lyrics of a single Creed song. Stapp left the stage on several occasions during songs for long periods of time, rolled around on the floor of the stage in apparent pain or distress and appeared to pass out while onstage during the performance” It was also widely reported that guitarist Mark Tremonti even apologized for the singer’s behavior to fans that night.
The plaintiffs in the case were two men Philip Berenz and Chad Costino’s whose lawsuit claimed that Creed owed refunds to all of the 15,000 members of the audience that night.The tickets cost $50 each but the lawsuit estimates that with service charges, parking and other fees, the estimated 15,000 fans are owed around $2 million.
Stapp would end up defending his performance as he would leave a series of voicemails for the paper the Orlando Sentinel claiming that he thought he gave a great over the top performance. He claimed he was seen lying onstage because he was offering an over-the-top, dramatic performance meant to convey the difficulties he was facing in his personal life at the time. He claimed some fans mistook it as him passing out onstage. He would also go on to say that he was fighting an undisclosed illness at the time. Some concert goers following the show wrote into MTV calling the concert everything from "horrible" to "the worst show they have ever seen," but one concert attendee goer criticized the fans who filed a lawsuit against the band calling it ridiculous.
Creed ended up getting so much backlash they put out statement apart from Stapp and took responsibility for what happened that night and send out an email to their fans.

The plaintiffs lawsuit claimed that there already was a precedent set in a previous case whereby a man sued a painter who had been hired to paint a portrait of his wife. The man claimed the painting looked nothing like his wife and was able to recover his fee, but the judge in the trial disagreed.
Ultimately the the lawsuit got thrown out of court in late 2003. The ruling judge would claim that at a concert there's no contract between artist and ticketholders. The ticket is just a lic

Sources:

[jasonbungard]

Scott Stapp while getting sued: "My performance was great, you just don't understand it."
Scott Stapp after suit is dismissed: "The show was rubbish, but it's not my fault."

[spacejamgoliath]

Glad to hear the judge understood what the deal is. Imagine Creed had played the best show ever and then sued the audience for more money

[ionkno]

Damn alcoholism is terrible.
I pray no one goes through this! And it's definitely ridiculous to sue them.

[Bob_Jones]

I saw Creed on their "Weathered" tour at Staples Center in Los Angeles. It was cancelled twice due to speculative circumstances but when the show finally happened it was really good. They played solid the whole time. Scott Stapp put on a good show. I was expecting it to suck due to all the rumors but I was happy with their performance. Glad I got to see them before they broke up.

[JoseCruz-dmew]

The fans sued cause he wouldn’t take them

[Joybuzzard]

Then there's bands like Ween, there would have been a lawsuit for sure if Ween had ever done a show sober.

[gordtron]

creed stories are hilarious. who else would this happen to?

[cantbehelped]

Fun fact: Images of this show are known to exist but all recordings other than one blurry screengrab have become lost media. Its possible someone has a video but it hasnt surfaced and anything that is uploaded gets pulled immediately.

[quinnrollen]

Basically, they got sued because they suck.

[philipholmes]

Scott looks that "Maniac Cop" guy in a few of those clips !

[mikewilson]

The Nineties gave us some great bands. And then there was Creed.

[michaelmarkulin]

I've been to 10 creed shows from 1998, to the reunion in 2009, including woodstock. No two shows are the same. They were a great band live. Never liked stapp, but tremonti and the guys ALWAYS sounded great. Stapp had his great moments too. We all fall sometimes.

[BlueblueN]

Then Manson would be sued every second show

[therealwilfreddierkes]

Dude. I’ve went to shows where I’ve immediately went and sat in my car, drank with other people in the parking
Lot, while blaring music from who was playing onstage.
Cut to a few hours later, sobbing crying with complete strangers about how bands ‘use to be.’ 🤣🤣🤘🏼🤦🏻‍♀️

[toddshroyer]

I was at this show, I had seen them just a few months earlier and they were fantastic

[flochartingham]

As a long time Aerosmith fan I am highly indignant. So many wasted opportunities.

[lordioris]

*Goes to a Creed concert*

"You get what you F deserve!"

[danbosch-]

Man I wish there was video of that concert

[onurbsenutna]

Creed, Nickelback and Puddle of Mud were the lamest bands in the early 2Ks! I would feel like suing them even if they played right. Those guys sucked! At least they had the common sense of breaking up unlike the other two.

[fredfuchs]

Yeah it happened to me going to a free STP show they were so messed up I felt they owed me money cuz I wasted my time