Nine Inch Nails Singer Awarded $3 Million
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A jury awarded Nine Inch Nails (search) alternative rocker Trent Reznor (search) $2.95 million after finding his former manager breached his contract and acted fraudulently, a lawyer said Tuesday.
The jury in Manhattan federal court delivered the verdict Friday against John Malm, Reznor's longtime manager, said attorney Zia F. Modabber. The award likely would top $4 million when interest is added.
Modabber said he called Reznor, who is on tour, with the news.
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"He was almost silent at first. It's still sinking in," Modabber said. "It's been a difficult thing for him in a lot of ways. They were very, very close friends."
A lawyer for Malm did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.
The civil verdict came after a three-week trial in which Reznor testified that he was stunned to learn in 2003 that despite millions of dollars in earnings, he was left with as little as $400,000 in cash.
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"I felt I had an accountant I couldn't trust," Reznor testified.
Reznor sued Malm, contending he duped Reznor into signing a contract that gave Malm 20 percent of his gross earnings rather than net earnings, and let Malm collect the commission forever.
A lawyer for Malm, Alan Hirth, said in an opening statement that Malm worked many years for no salary — and kept nothing secret from Reznor.
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Nine Inch Nails' fourth studio album and first in six years, "With Teeth (search)," debuted last month at No. 1 in sales.