Soundgarden have countersued Chris Cornell's widow Vicky for "fraudulent inducement" over a charity concert.
The surviving members of the rock group - Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, and Ben Shepherd - filed their lawsuit against Vicky Cornell and the Chris Cornell estate at the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida, Miami, on Wednesday, according to Rolling Stone.
In the papers, the musicians claim they had made an "oral agreement" with Vicky to perform for free at I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell tribute concert in January 2019 - with the intention that the money raised from the event would go to the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation.
However, they go on to allege that "Vicky Cornell did not have the intention of using some or all of the revenue from the Cornell Concert for charitable purposes, but rather for personal purposes for herself and her family."
The band members also claim that Vicky knew her charitable "representation was false, or exhibited recklessness and negligence as to its truth or falsity, for the purpose and intent of inducing Soundgarden into agreeing to perform at the Cornell Concert without compensation."
Soundgarden have allegedly suffered "damages" and "reputational harm" as a result of her actions.
Elsewhere in the complaint, the musicians also responded to Vicky's initial lawsuit, which was filed in 2019, in which she claimed Soundgarden have been withholding royalties from her over seven unreleased recordings her husband made before his 2017 death.
"Soundgarden categorically denies every material contention lobbed by Vicky Cornell, who filed her Complaint - rashly and without good cause - with the true purpose of extorting Soundgarden into conceding rights to which she is not legally entitled, and of coercing Soundgarden to prematurely distribute Soundgarden funds to her," Soundgarden state in the new papers. "This legal action by Vicky Cornell is lamentable, preventable, and spurious."
Soundgarden are asking for "compensatory and general damages in an amount to be proven at trial", in addition to "injunctions and declarations related to copyright and other ownership claims, punitive and exemplary damages".
Responding to the latest legal action on her Twitter page, Vicky wrote on Wednesday night: "You were so wrong to think you'd silence me by lies, intimidation and fear. That you might break me because its a gutwrenching time."
