Perry Farrell sues Jane's Addiction bandmates hours after they sued him, claims he's victim of a "years-long bullying campaign"

Mere hours after Dave Navarro, Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins sued Jane's Addiction bandmate Perry Farrell, accusing him of assault, battery, the intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract, the singer has responded in kind.

In documents filed today in Los Angeles, Farrell accuses the trio of attacking him onstage after years of "bullying" and is seeking damages for assault, battery, infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract.

The incident at the heart of the dispute is the widely-reported fracas that took place onstage at Boston’s Leader Bank Pavilion last September, when the show was ended after Navarro and Farrell became engaged in an onstage altercation that ended the band's set – and subsequently their much-heralded reunion tour.

While Farrell apologised for his actions in the wake of the incident, calling his behaviour "inexcusable" and claiming "full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation," the singer now claims his reaction to Navarro allegedly playing too loudly during the song Ocean Size was the culmination of a "years-long bullying campaign."

"Farrell reacted by body-checking Navarro,” the complaint reads. "Farrell did not throw any punches, but simply wanted to alert Navarro that he had to stop playing so loud. The video evidence is clear that the first altercation onstage during the Boston show was hardly one-sided, and in fact, what followed was an inappropriate violent escalation by Navarro and Avery that was disproportionate to Farrell’s minor body check of Navarro."

The lawsuit goes on to claim that Farrell was willing to continue with the tour, but that the other three musicians sought to undermine him by blaming their decision to cut the tour short on Farrell’s "mental health difficulties."

The lawsuit reads: "Plaintiffs are informed, believe and on these bases allege that defendants made their false and defamatory statements regarding Perry Farrell’s mental health in a spurious effort both to change the narrative about the events of the band’s last show, but also as a part of a disingenuous effort to secure insurance coverage for their own irresponsible cancellation of the tour."

Christopher Frost, the attorney acting for Navarro, Avery and Perkins, has responded to Farrell's allegations, drawing attention to an Instagram post shared by Farrell's wife Etty in the wake of the incident, in which she admitted that Farrell had been "struggling mentally for quite some time."