It Turns Out Axl Rose REALLY Hates Slash

We knew there was bad blood between former members of Gun ‘n Roses, but who knew it was this bad? Axl Rose has filed a 20 million dollar lawsuit against Activision. Their crime: including Slash in Guitar Hero III. Here’s the meat of it from Hollywood Reporter:

In an amusing lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Rose and his Black Frog Music claim that Activision Blizzard fraudulently induced Rose into authorizing “Jungle” for use in Guitar Hero III by telling him during negotiations that it wouldn’t feature any reference to the former GNR member or his subsequent band, Velvet Revolver.

”[Activision] began spinning a web of lies and deception to conceal its true intentions to not only feature Slash and VR prominently in GH III but also promote the game by emphasizing and reinforcing an association between Slash and Guns N’ Roses and the band’s song ‘Welcome to the Jungle,’ ” the complaint states.

When Rose found out that a Slash-like chararacter and Velvet Revolver songs would be included in GH II, he says he immediately rescinded the authorization for “Jungle,” but Activision allegedly lied and told him the inclusion was just for the purposes of a trade show. Then GH III came out and its box cover featured “an animated depiction of Slash, with his signature black top hat, long dark curly hair, dark sunglasses and nose-piercing,” according to the complaint. In short, the former GNR guitarist was all over GH III, enraging Rose.

I like the description of Slash! Very specific.

Rose is also pissed off because Activision used Sweet Child O’ Mine in ads for Guitar Hero III, and he says he only licensed it to be used in-game.

This reminds me of when Stalinist Russia used to airbrush disappeared officials out of photos. Except this being a plastic instrument game the stakes are much higher. Axl Rose wants Slash forever disassociated from the band!