DUBLIN, Ireland (October 17, 2006) — Bono testified once again Tuesday that an ex-stylist for U2 stole and tried to sell band memorabilia, including his iconic Stetson cowboy hat from the cover of the “Rattle and Hum” album.
Bono was testifying at the start of an Irish High Court appeal over the band’s 2002 lawsuit against fashion consultant Lola Cashman, who insists she received a range of gifts while advising U2 during the group’s “Joshua Tree” world tour in 1987-88.
Bono, dressed in a chocolate brown suit, took off his rose-tinted sunglasses in the dock Tuesday as he explained his sense of betrayal over Cashman, whom he described as an eccentric pain in the neck. Bono said he had picked the Stetson, not Cashman.
“It’s our stuff, she has it, and a lot more beside. We want out stuff back. We want her to stop selling it,” he said.
A lower Irish District Court ruling last year rejected Cashman’s defense and ordered her to return all the items to the band, whose net fortune is estimated in excess of $800 million. The items in dispute include hoop earrings, pants and a sweater worn by Bono and nearly 200 backstage photographs taken by Cashman.
U2 sued Cashman after she 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 backstage in his underwear following a concert in Phoenix.
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