Maybe you’ve heard of the Kim Kardashian charity scandal (hardly a scandal, but suitable as an example) earlier this year. If you haven’t, and if you’re too lazy to check the link above, let me break it down to you. Kim Kardashian has sold some of her clothes via Ebay, under the banner “Charity Auction Supporting the Dream Foundation.” In the end only 10% were actually donated and she has kept the rest to herself.
What does this have to do with metal, and especially with Chuck Schuldiner (pictured above)? Well, we might think that something like that couldn’t happen in our perfect metal world. After all, metal musicians seem less money hungry than women who’re only famous for getting fucked by some R’n’B singer. But we’re wrong to assume that.
Beth Schuldiner, Chuck Schuldiner’s sister, has now spoken about the Sick Drummer Magazine/Death To All Tour debacle. Again, to break it down for you, Sick Drummer Magazine has helped organize the Death To All/Chuck Schuldiner tribute tour earlier this year. The earnings of said tour were partly supposed to go to the Sweet Relief charity, which had also helped Chuck when he was dying from cancer. Now Death’s management has claimed that the owners of Sick Drummer Magazine has not paid musicians, charity, booking agents, crews or Death’s management, Perseverance Holdings Ltd., despite the tour being a success.
Those are some very strong accusations and to further fuel the fire, Beth Schuldiner has now spoken out about it, and you can read that after the jump.
I’m not going to pick sides myself, because I hardly know all of the details of this story, but I’d like to point out how incredibly weak it is to make thousands of dollars in the name of charity, and then not even give 1% to that charity. Even Kim Kardashian knew better.
I have to step in here. I am Beth Schuldiner, Chuck’s sister. I was at the New York show and all of the guys were UNBELIEVABLE!!!! AND, so were the fans! NO ONE can take this away from them!
Ian and Anton of Sick Drummer approached us, my family and Eric with this idea to do a small tour and aside from getting the band members together, a percentage of the proceeds would benefit the charity Sweet Relief; a charity which helps musicians and who did in fact help Chuck.
I was initially concerned, as ‘benefits’ have been done in Chuck’s name before, while Chuck was alive and still struggling to survive and the monies were stolen. I was assured by many that this would not and could not happen. You be the judges.
Fact: Our mother, Jane, is contacted each and every day by fans who have to this day NOT received refunds for cancelled shows. Fact: The charity, Sweet Relief has received NOTHING!!! Not ONE CENT! And, the charity’s name was used in ALL advertising of the DTA tour; the fans, many of them, wrote to me prior to the show stating that they were thrilled to be a part of the show and that some of their money was going to help this charity.
Fact: Ian and Anton (Sick Drummer) have still given NO FULL ACCOUNTING of the tour which was required of them on their own contract signed by them! Fact: All anyone has are promissory notes signed by them with a promise to pay the charity????!!!
Fact: None of the band members were involved in collecting money or disbursing any money-they simply played and played their asses off they did! Chuck would have been both AMAZED and so very proud of ALL of them! Fact: Eric Greif went on the tour, but was REFUSED open access to see the accounting and OVER & OVER again was reassured by Ian and Anton that all was well. ONLY Ian and Anton had access to the money and the accounting.
Again: all of you be the judge. Sold out shows, no money for the charity. Mmmm… I don’t know who ‘Project Genesis’ on this forum is, but I can only assume he is either mislead OR a party to Ian and Anton somehow. There must be laws against this and I have contacted the fraud department of the New York Attorney general’s office to see what recourse we have.
Source: Gun Shy Assassin
