From love to Hate…breed – band faces legal issues about the recent lineup changes

The fact that former Hatebreed bassist Chris Beattie was fired from the legendary metalcore band in November 2024 wasn’t exactly a secret. Apart from declaring in February of this year that they had split from him “for the foreseeable future,” Hatebreed has been largely silent on the matter. In May of same year, Beattie would subsequently claim that lawyers were involved in the ongoing conflict between the band and himself. According to Billboard, on July 30th, Beattie filed a lawsuit against the band and singer Jamey Jasta. Beattie claims in the complaint that he was kicked out of the band for financial gain. Beattie also refutes Jasta’s allegations that he was let go for harassing a Live Nation security guard at a performance at the Toyota Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut, on November 09, 2024. Jasta’s remarks on that topic were “patently untrue,” according to Beattie. According to the complaint, Jasta fired Beattie without warning because of the alleged incident. Beattie goes on to say that Jasta “structured a false narrative” to share with the other band members what transpired at the aforementioned performance. Beattie claims that the story was made up to discourage the other band members from encouraging Beattie to stay on board as a member. Beattie continued by suggesting that money was the real reason for his termination.

[James] Shanahan [aka Jamey Jasta] stood to profit from Beattie’s termination, as he would be entitled to a larger share of band proceeds and profits without Beattie in the band. In addition, Beattie and Shanahan were the primary songwriters for the band and together earned the majority of publishing proceeds for their work. With Beattie out of the band, Shanahan likely believed that he could stand to recover significantly more in the way of publishing proceeds.

In addition, Beattie’s lawsuit claims that Jasta had grown “more secretive” about the band’s financial situation in recent years and that he suspected him of not giving him the full 25% of the band’s income to which he was legally entitled. Additionally, he said that Jasta denied Beattie access to the band’s accounts. Beattie is requesting monetary compensation for the conflict, arguing that the dismissal has harmed his “career, reputation, health, and mental well-being.” In addition, he claimed that since his dismissal, he has lost brand deals and been excluded from any touring revenue made by the group.