Irish rock band U2 emerged victorious Wednesday in a court battle with a former stylist it claimed had taken important memorabilia without permission nearly two decades ago.
Lola Cashman had told Dublin’s High Court that U2 frontman Bono had given her several items as gifts during U2’s Joshua Tree tour in 1987.
An iconic Stetson hat, a pair of metal earrings, a green sweat shirt and a pair of black trousers — all worn by Bono — were among the disputed items Cashman claimed she had been given.
But after a protracted legal dispute that saw Bono take the witness box, judge Michael Peart ruled that on the balance of probability, the items had not been given to Cashman as she had claimed.
The band’s lawyer, Paul Sreenan, said U2 would not pursue costs against Cashman for the appeal or for an earlier circuit court action she lost last year.
Neither U2 nor Cashman were in court for the ruling.
A lower Irish District Court ruling last year rejected Cashman’s defense and ordered her to return all the items to the band.
U2 filed the lawsuit after Cashman tried to sell the clothes and photos at a London auction house in 2002. She further angered the band with her 2004 book, “Inside the Zoo With U2: My Life With the World’s Biggest Rock Band.”
During her 2005 testimony, Cashman claimed that Bono had handed over the Stetson and other items while dancing about in his underwear backstage following a concert in Phoenix.
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