Former Ghost members lose lawsuit against Tobias Forge

Four former members of Ghost have lost the lawsuit they brought against Ghost leader Tobias Forge.

News that Simon Söderberg, Mauro Rubinho, Henrik Palm and Martin Hjertstedt were to sue Forge for “missing wages and allowances for several years” emerged in 2017.

The four also claimed that a partnership was in place to distribute proceeds from the band, with the quartet also asking for Forge to disclose Ghost’s revenue and expenses between 2011 and 2016. 

This was something Forge denied and the Linkoping District Court have agreed with the vocalist.

Linkoping News report that the court found that while there was a wish to have this agreement in place prior to 2016, it didn’t happen until the autumn of that year.

The website also reports that while Forge, Söderberg, Rubinho, Palm and Hjertstedt agreed to play together and perform live shows, there was not enough evidence to suggest a business relationship.

As a result of losing the case – the results of which were delivered in a 108-page document – the four have been ordered to pay Forge’s legal bills of 1.3 million Swedish kronor.

Söderberg, Rubinho, Palm and Hjertstedt have a three week window to appeal the ruling.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.