When Axl Rose stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! last fall for a rare TV interview, host Jimmy Kimmel teased the Guns N’ Roses frontman heavily for his habit of showing up late. Concerts. Albums. Rose does ’em all in his own sweet-child-o’-mine time. Now he could finally be paying a price.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, a judge recently indicated he’s leaning toward throwing out a lawsuit by Rose because the singer took too long before he got around to filing it. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles Palmer reportedly said at a hearing last week he’s inclined to find Rose showed up late to a two-year statute of limitations. “The only extrinsic evidence… does not support Rose’s interpretation,” the judge is quoted as saying. He’ll make his final ruling “within weeks,” per THR.
Rose initally slapped the $20 million complaint on Activision, makers of the now-defunct Guitar Hero video-game franchise, in late 2010. According to the suit, Rose said he okayed the use of GN’R’s “Welcome to the Jungle” in Guitar Hero III on a single condition: Keep former GN’R guitarist Slash out of it. But the game contained a bunch of songs by Slash-featuring band Velvet Revolver anyway. Worse, the October 2007 release had Slash on its cover. It even included the always-hat-wearing guitar slinger as a playable avatar.
Rose, not amused, accused Activision of defrauding him and breaching its contract. The court has already tossed out Rose’s fraud claim. As for the statute of limitations, Rose said in a deposition that he waited so long because the company offered him a “a separate video game and other business proposals worth millions of dollars.” He should’ve just stopped the principal’s office and picked up a tardy slip.
