Music

Alan Cross testified at Courtney Love's Twitter trial

by Mark Teo

UPDATE: According to Spin, Love has been found not guilty.

North of the border, Alan Cross is one of the most established voices in Canadian music media; as a radio host, he once hosted the Ongoing History of New Music, one of Edge 102.1’s most beloved programs, and elsewhere, he aggregates Cancon news on his blog, is a sought-after public speaker, and has even worked with AUX.

As a journalist, he’s no court reporter, but this week, he finds himself providing a testimony for a defamation lawsuit against Courtney Love.

Here’s the backstory: Love is being sued by her former lawyer, Rhonda Holmes, after tweeting that “they got to her,” allegedly insinuating that her attorney had been “bought off.” Holmes had been hired to represent Love for a fraud case concerning the management of Kurt Cobain’s estate.

Love, for her part, claimed that Holmes “disappeared” from her previous trial. Here’s the tweet that sparked the lawsuit. “I was fucking devestated when Rhonda J Holmes esq of San Diego was bought off,” Love tweeted in 2010. “I’ve been hiring and firing lawyers to help me with this.”

Cross took the stand this week. So how’d a Canadian music broadcaster end up in the middle of the case? Aside from having interviewed Love several times, says Spin, the Canadian journalist wrote about Love’s previous fraud case—the one handled by Holmes—on his previous blog, Explore Music. During the trial, he recalled interviewing Love for a post called “My Cupcake With Courtney Love.”

Cross, when questioned, say he didn’t know the identity of the female attorney—and he didn’t name Holmes in his blog post. He did, however, link to a New York Post story featuring Holmes.  “I remember thinking, ‘I am not going to mention any names in this article because it could be too explosive and dangerous for me,’” he told the court, adding that he didn’t want to get involved in libel, slander, or defamation cases.

For his part, the broadcaster maintained that he’s also a fan of the Hole frontwoman’s music. “Any opportunity I have to talk to her is most welcome,” Cross told the court. “I enjoy her music, I enjoy her personality, and I enjoy speaking with her because she is always very interesting.”

Love’s trial, the first ever over whether you can libel someone using Twitter, could set a huge precedent.

We’ll keep you updated on any developments.