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Otis Redding's Widow, Manager Sue Biographer For $15 Million
11/23/2002 7:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Mark Armstrong
(11/23/02, 7 a.m. ET) -- Otis Redding's widow and former manager are suing the author of a biography written about the R&B legend, claiming the book is filled with lies. Zelma Redding and Phil Walden have filed a lawsuit in Fulton County in Atlanta against St. Martin's Press and Scott Freeman, author of Otis! The Otis Redding Story, claiming Freeman's book has in effect assassinated both his character and their reputations.
Redding and Walden are reportedly seeking at least $15 million, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The lawsuit alleges that Freeman's book, published last year, details rumors about the singer's drug use, extramarital affairs and a contemplated divorce, causing "harm to the plaintiffs." It also cites rumors that Walden plotted with the Mafia to kill Redding by causing the plane to crash in order to get $1 million in life insurance on the singer, and to prevent Redding from firing him.
"Walden did not kill Otis Redding nor any other passenger of that plane, nor is he a member or ever had any association with any criminal organization, period," the lawsuit states.
For the record, the lawsuit says that a Federal Aviation Administration investigation determined that the plane crash that killed Redding and five other passengers was an accident, but never determined the cause.
"Otis's friends always thought that the manager was somehow involved," Freeman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I took pains to say that was unsubstantiated and had no basis in fact and was pretty farfetched."
The suit claims Freeman's book "is nothing short of lies spun to sell a poorly researched book."
Redding died at the age of 26 when his plane crashed into a Wisconsin lake on December 10, 1967, just three days after recording what would become his most famous song, "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay."
Calls to Redding's and Walden's attorney were not returned at press time.
-- Sue Falco, New York
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