Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Steven Adler is well-known for his years of whining and complaining about how he was kicked out of Guns N? Roses. How all the people he thought were his friends turned their backs on him, and how management and the guys in his band, his ?brothers?, got him to sign away his rights. These claims make it all the more distasteful as such injustices are exactly what he inflicted upon me. And I never would have believed it. It was I who wrote his book, ?My Appetite for Destruction?, then named, ?No Bed of Roses?, back in 2003.

I was a huge GNR fan when I met Steven. My hobby was collecting GNR memorabilia. After we became friends, I started the ?Official Steven Adler Fansite? and ran it, on my own time and dime, for ten years. Oddly enough, as the only real ?fan? among Adler?s people, I was the only one keenly aware of how big Adler actually wasn?t. When he?d ask me to do outrageous things such as put his nail clippings on eBay or sell signed DVR?s at $100 a pop, I refused. It is no small satisfaction to see the negative feedback Adler currently gets at how his web presence is handled, particularly when he was selling ?Fan Experience Packages? (lunch with Steven, $7500!?).

During my tenure, I?ve seen no less than a half dozen management teams & new official websites come and go. The last group of people I worked with really had a yen for power. Among them, one in particular I had known for months by the time business with the book was getting into high gear. I received an email from her with an attachment, stating to the effect of, ?here?s your book contract, when can you come in and sign it?? This was a surprise, I was never given any hint that she was involved with our book dealings. In fact, I was further dismayed to see just how many new hands were in the ?book pie? - and that they intended to pay me after each newcomer?s commissions! Needless to say, the contract gave me no rights and I refused to sign.

I had initially signed on in 2002. The contract was with Steven?s mother, Deanna, for a fee of $10,000 upon publishing. In 2003, I renegotiated, and signed a contract for 10% of all book earnings ?received from Adler? plus the credit ?by Steven Adler with Brooke Ellis?. It was Deanna?s intent to find a publisher to combine her own memoir with Steven's book. A few years had passed and she failed to secure a deal (I need to say that I hold nothing against Deanna Adler, and I am sorry to mention her here).
 
In 2007, I was told by Steven?s brother, Jamie, to sign a Release of Authorship, which retained only my 10% interest. I refused, and was told, ?It?s this or nothing. If you contest this we will fight you hard, and you?ll lose, etc?? I didn?t have money for lawyers! I was further told that writer Larry Spagnola was going to weave Steven and Deanna?s stories together. I appreciated what a task that would be. They attempted to pacify me with the reassurance that I would have a special acknowledgement in the book, complete with a picture. I signed reluctantly, under duress & without counsel. Meanwhile, Deanna had forged Steven?s signature on the notarized contract.
 
Unbeknownst to me, Steven had previously sued his mother. Estranged from her since 2007, by ?09, with his new representation he had gotten out of book contracts that Deanna signed on behalf of him - on the grounds that she did not have power of attorney to do so. I breathed a HEAVY sigh of relief! I learned that Larry Spagnola had brokered a ?big deal? with Harper Collins which they still wanted, now without the mother?s involvement or added story. 

The 2009 ?agreement? emailed to me was almost identical to the 2007 one, with the addition of an open-ended ?after expenses? clause (tacked on to the stipulation of my 10% interest). Angered, I called Steven and said, ?Don?t let them fuck me!? he said he would ?never let that happen!?, and was shocked to learn my name wouldn?t be on the book, "There wouldn't even be a book without you!" he shouted. He told me to ?go ahead and make your own contract?. That was the last time I spoke to him. His number was quickly changed and none of our mutual friends would return my calls. 
 
Utilizing what money I had, I acquired the services of a literary attorney. Steven?s lawyers tried to tell her that all I had done was transcribe interviews. She had the original fleshed-out chaptered manuscript and told them so. Then they tried to say it was poorly written, she told them it WAS NOT! She made some headway. A perplexing conversation with Mr. Spagnola revealed that he maintained a bitter sense of entitlement to my work, and was stressed over the matter. Insanely, my lawyer then botched everything by accidentally forwarding our private correspondence in which we discuss strategy and my own admission of waning financial resources (thereby limiting any potential threat of a lawsuit from me).

While I had the lawyer under retainer, the first advance installment was paid in full (she argued that they COULD NOT deduct expenses). After she was out of the picture, the second advance installment was paid @ only 4.5%, the third @ ?. In my continuing effort to resolve the matter, I waited three months on a lawyer-friend of my family?s who promised to take action on my behalf. He never did. Then I retained the services of a contingency-based lawyer. After six months, all he did was acquire sales figures. Needless to say, lawyers suck. However, each lawyer had agreed the 2007 contract is void primarily because Steven?s signature is forged, further compounded by the fact that Adler deducted massive expenses from my 10% interest, before refusing to pay me at all. Therefore, they are using my work with NO VALID CONTRACT. The book has since been released and I have not received a penny. The book, meanwhile, is very much in the form of my initial draft (I had always planned to develop it further), fully edited with a few extra pages added. My name is changed to ?Chuck? in stories that feature me. For the record, much of the real ?dirt? had been taken out.

From the opening segue into the first chapter, ?Let?s start from the beginning, so we can see how things began to unravel until they got so fucked up? (the gist of which I borrowed from the opening narration of the 1999 movie, Tart) to the closing line, ?It?s gonna take a lot more than that to spoil my appetite!? (a clich? phrase I was actually embarrassed over), it?s all me. I can tell you exactly what came from the 20 hours of audio I have with Steven, what facts came from an existing book, magazine or TV interview - or what I just made up! Ultimately, it was my aim to paint a sympathetic portrait of the man. You?ll notice there?s not much in the novel accounting for the years 2003 ? 2009. These are the scant few pages Larry actually contributed.

I always appreciated Steven?s friendship greatly, and we had been through a lot together. But he allowed this injustice against me. He let his people trample and humiliate me. He is a backstabber of the highest order. Many people have attested publicly that he is not a good person. I always defended him. Then I learned just how right they were. In fact, given the seedy element he associates with, I wonder if I should fear for my safety after this comes out. It?s been me alone against his army. They ganged up and treated me like shit to maximize their potential cuts.

Sadly, it is Lawrence Spagnola with the last laugh. He has credit for a New York Times Bestseller he did not write, and (as it was he who brokered the Harper Collins deal) the lions-share of profits and a strong contract to protect him. I will never cease in my mission to expose him for what he is, a THIEF who STOLE my work and took credit for it.

I?ve done everything in my power to resolve this matter peacefully. I told them I?d sign their contract if they simply got rid of the open-ended after-expenses clause. They refused! I may have reluctantly gone along with it all, settled for the special acknowledgement ? I didn?t want to make waves, or jeopardize my friendship with Adler - but I was not going to allow them to exploit me further by finding new ways to screw me! They saw this as an OPPORTUNITY. They appealed to Steven?s tampered sensibility by making exaggerated and defamatory claims, saying I was ?crazy? and making ?unreasonable demands?. Ultimately, they knew I didn?t have the resources to fight this, so they kicked me when I was already down, over and over for the last two years. Recently, I was told that this New York Times Best Seller which has been re-issued in paperback, did not make back it?s advance and there was no money coming to me. I?ve had it. This is my attempt at setting the record straight. I never wanted to go public with this, but Steven hasn?t seen fit to make this right, and I have no choice. I have retained a new lawyer, an aggressive fellow by the name of Michael Lotta, and we are taking this to court.

This has been hurtful and stressful. Adler robbed me. People are lucky if they get one big break, and this was mine. A saving grace has been my own music passion project, ?Vintage Quixotic? (New music for Old Hollywood) which, to my satisfaction, proposes more talent than Adler ever will have with his clumsy drumming.

Read a 2005 interview Ellis gave about the Adler book here:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=33933 (http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=33933)

Other related Ellis/Adler stories:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=46231 (http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=46231)
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=42721 (http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=42721)

Are you Brooke? Hmm this pretty sad to hear  :-\

Hey, IzzyDutch! Long time! Pretty fucked up, huh?

Yeah longtime indeed! :)

It's fucked up indeed.. have you tried visiting Steven or anything to talk about it? And if you still have the draft or any old copies etc. can't you use that to sue? I mean that's usuable evidence right?

About the book itself, I quite liked it.. the writing is pretty good  8)

Yes, I have everything I need. We are going to sue (unfortunately). I did everything in my power to reach Steven. I pleaded with his wife (who I was once close to) and Chip (who always remained cool & neutral), to no avail.

I skimmed over your letter, and I don't know if this is helpful, but Deanna Adler talks about her book deal in the second part of this interview with La Voce.

She says that it was her son Kenny who put her notes together in book form.  Then her son Jamie contacted Michael Nunnery who then contacted Larry Spagnola.  After that Larry Spagnola put her in contact with NY agent Adam Crowmey who got her the deal with HarperCollins.

Here: http://www.lavocelasvegas.com/007-la-voce-las-vegas-sweet-child-of-mine-deanna-adler-part-ii/

Thanks for that, Monkey. Cool to see you still on here!

funny enough ive allways had a bad feeling about that book and steven too allways been like too kind to me
well i belive you 100% and wish you all the best and
dont let the biz fuck you! :nervous:

This is sad. Seems like Axl was right about Steven all along.

Well, to the best of my knowledge, Axl doesn't repay the dedication and loyalty of friends with betrayal.

I read what you wrote and I have to say that I genuinely feel sorry for you...

It seems like they took your work, and tried to get you to sign away as much of your percentages as they could. And all because they knew that you never had as much financial backing for laywers, etc.... as they did.

You must really feel cheated and dis-heartened, seeing as you admired Steven at the start of this experience.

But I'm glad that this thread has given you a platform to voice "the truth", but I only wish you could take it further. And yes, it is very hypicritical, considering what happened to him "in his opinion" during his firing from GN'R. But in all honesty, I kind of knew that Steven would be like this. He just seems like a person who has alot of baggage, and is always going to bring trouble to the table.  :yes:

No wonder Axl, has said what he did about him..... He must know more than anyone what he's like.

So yeah, I really feel sorry for you man..... must really suck to have this happen and have no way of getting justice.

Thanks, man, you get it.
Some of you old timers on the board might remember the years I defended Steven on here. The irony is not lost on me. When I see Steven talking about the book, saying he "wrote it over lunch" with Larry (from suicidegirls.com) or that his friends like Slash helped him write it, I seethe at the bullshit.

I think you misunderstood me. I think what happened to you sucks. There was an interview with Axl and Kurt Loder in the early 90's where.  Axl said Steven was a very dark spirited person and that wanted to stay as far away from Steven as possible. He also kept Erin Everly's mother from pressing charges for Steven giving her a speedball.  Axl is a very loyal friend and would never screw people over like that. I am sorry that your work was mishandled and that your friendship was abused. I hope that you can find some justice.

Yup, he said that in the August 1990 Famous Last Words interview. Justice? Damn right I'll get it. I've already got some calls from some of Adler's people. Here's what one of them said, "You're still an up and comer! Just relax, your time will come" NO! Larry is the up and comer! I've been published countless times by high end media entities such as Classic Rock Magazine and Hot Topic. Larry has NEVER been published to my knowledge - definitely not in rock journalism. I'd get him and Steve on the stand and quiz them about the book and make them look like fools!!! (all Larry had going for him was CONNECTIONS - a good agent and an 'in' at Harper Collins)

Wow this is insane!  I have lost the very little bit of respect I ever had for the guy after this.  What a tool

hey brooke, good luck man. I seriously hope you win. Don't give up if you dont seriously take out a loan to get the BEST lawyers if you have to. You can win this! I'll buy any future books u write if that helps :P

what a freakin' douche. Man from what I thought Steven was naieve & stupid, but not plain evil. is it just that he is so fucked on by the seedy people who surround him... Or that he's 2 fucked out on drugs? i hate when shit like this happens and poor people get fucked.

hey brooke stay on the boards and update us!!

u should've got something in writing notarized up front before doing the work. U can't trust a crackhead.

People may forget the extreme lengths drug addicts will go to get what they want and it can destroy their families, finances, and lives in general. While history has shown the GnR guys have all done some douchbaggery things (some more than others), I have no doubt that the injustice of the book credit has been done. I've run across bad seeds periodically, and they will do whatever it takes to screw people if it's to their advantage, in this case whether it was because of a better deal with more money, etc. etc. Seeing this guy on Rehab with Dr. Drew, and Sober House etc, it's pretty easy to see Stephen Adler isn't really a good person or someone you can trust.


In retrospect, and I have done this myself (I've since learned better) you probably were on a comfort level where everything seemed ok and relations were good for purposes of the book-then you saw how he really was when the greed/personal agenda factors came into play-it's too bad the contract wasn't ironclad in the beginning.


I have read the book and enjoyed it. Brooke, I hope you follow thru with this to the ends of the earth to get what you deserve, not only for the royalties/what you are owed but for the principal of it. Druggies are in their own world, and everyone else is just a satellite revolving around them that they want to suck in and use up for their own selfish needs.

Does anyone have any follow up regarding this?  Its been over a year now.  Was Brooke able to take him to court?

I believe you !!!! a lot of people said that from Steven and it pissed me off :rant: because a lot of people helped  him a lot including you ,is really a shame that it happened to you ... sue him ,i hope you can have the money that you deserve ..GOOD LUCK !!!!!!!!!!

I won't say if it's true or not, but right after this thread was created I tweeted to Steven about the issue, hopefully to hear his side. I was promptly blocked from viewing his tweets... That doesn't necessarily prove guilt of course, but it is eyebrow raising.

motherfucker...

we should all tweet him :hihi:

Well, it really doesn't prove anything the original poster claims of course. I am however shocked by the reaction it got from him (handlers).

Hahaha, So I just tried to tweet him and noticed I was already blocked. Musta been when he was running his mouth about the HOF, I went off on him constantly. :)

Tweet Lawrence J Spagnola.

He laid the foundation for this disgrace.

Such a man needs to be recognized for his vile character.

I'll defend myself in this matter until my dying day.

So is he behind Mr. Adler?

Dude go to LA times or something if this is true. Defend yourself! If I was you I would be doing a LOT more.

That's the interesting thing about this, I have no idea whom to believe....

Best thing to do is when he's being interviewed for the new CD, have someone ask him point blank about it. I'm sure someone will, like Blabbermouth because they don't give a fuck about stepping on toes. Best thing to do is kiss some ass then hit them with a tough question.

It was a good book about his life. No one knows how honest or factual authorized bios are. Some people have a knack for writing, some people like Slash would just prefer talking over months, and let a journalist pretty it up.

I agree with this, I want to hear his side before I make a judgment.

sad story, justice must prevail, keep fighting for your rights!  : ok:

That doesn't mean anything... Steven may not be legally allowed to discuss it and thus can't have posts like that on his Twitter.

Obviously Steven has a "checkered" past and no one is going to deny that.  But no matter what, the allegations found on this thread are STILL just one side of the story.  It's sad to see so many rendering judgment without knowing both sides -- especially the people who have been needlessly comparing Steven to Axl, as if Axl has ever been anything close to a saint (that post about what Steven allegedly did to Erin Everly made me laugh -- if I brought up all the things that Erin legally claimed that AXL did to her, I'd probably get banned).

You think the notion of Steven ripping off Brooke is egregious... well, I'll grant you it is.  But, as much money and notoriety that Steven has from GNR, the notion of someone trying to rip HIM off is equally believable.  That isn't to say I'm arbitrarily siding with Steven, it's just that there is more to this story that we'll ever really know, even if we do hear Steven's side.  The truth is usually vaguely in the middle with bitter disputes like this.

If Brooke got fucked over, then he should fight.  But posting on a message board isn't exactly going to accomplish anything other than preach to the choir that is already anti-Steven.

I think ultimately the best way to admire rock stars is to allow them to be as inscrutable as possible; if we analyzed them all too closely, we'd find that they are pretty much all unscrupulous assholes in various ways.  That goes for all your heroes and mine.

I should make it clear that I am not siding with anyone on this. I was just shocked that I was blocked for asking the question.... I wanted to know his side, because we clearly know Brooke's side.

Yeah, I gathered you were on the fence.  Most of my post was actually just generalized towards the overall tone of the thread.

I would never judge Steven for anything he has done in his personal life, as I would never judge any of these people for that. It's not my business or my place.

However if this story is true, this person deserves Steven's attention and they have to get it some way.

There?s nothing that can be said to dispute my claims, save for the cold retort Larry Spagnola gave when I expressed my grievances to him - ?What did you agree to, Brook??

Between my open letter and interview with GNRSyndicate.com, I explain in detail the circumstances behind why I signed that initial release and why I believed it invalid.

I should mention that since the open letter I have received two royalty payment checks, both paid after extensive expenses and commissions.

But it wasn?t about the money. For me, the constant disrespect and defamation I found myself suffering had gone too far. Originally, I was just happy to be Steven Adler?s friend. Such trust and naivet? is essentially what got me into trouble. I was responsible for this product that everyone was happy to claim a piece of, yet they would show me no consideration. SOMEONE should have stepped up and said, ?Y?know, what we?re doing to this guy is not cool at all?. Who knows, maybe in hindsight there have been some regrets.

Throughout it all, I never lost the appreciation for what Steven accomplished musically. I never had to patronize him, my respect was genuine. And when he was being a dick, I told him so. I was his intermediary to the fans for years. That is why I?m talking in this forum. For me, it?s important that you all know the truth.

This ordeal left me so fried, so disillusioned. I?m done. But I?ll never forget. I was wronged on too many levels, and I will always defend myself and expose the vile treatment I endured.

So, there ya go...

If what you're saying is true, I don't blame you for being upset, Brook.  For the record, I was a member and posted on your website for quite some time.  Like I said, if you got fucked over, I can believe it.  It's the entertainment business, and shit like that is prone to happen whenever money is involved.

However, like I also said, it's just as easy to believe that this matter is more complicated than merely one person's story, which is why I'm not going to instantaneously jump onto the let's-condemn-Steven bandwagon without hearing other sides to the story -- even if other people on this site (like the early posters on this thread) are willing to do that.

Have you actually spoken to Steven about anyt of this? He could be just as manipulated as you.

Is it only me that finds the most surprising thing about this topic to be that someone other than Steven Adler wants to take credit for this book? ;)

In all seriousness, though, if what has been said is true, I'm very surprised that there's been no news of any kind of lawsuit. Even if it's not about the money, people who do that sort of thing shouldn't be able to get away with it. And I'm pretty sure the condemnation of a few GN'R fans isn't going to worry them as much as legal ramifications would.

Not saying I dispute what the original poster says. Just that it's pretty weird that someone claims to have their work stolen, and doesn't do anything other than write an open letter.