Fired agent’s action against LV band The Killers proceeding

Don't call music agent Braden Merrick Mr. Brightside.

He sees nothing positive in the Las Vegas hit band The Killers' decision to dump him after making a speedy rise to stardom. In fact, Merrick is so angry he has filed a $3 million federal lawsuit against the group's four members.

Band members kicked off a 42-stop world tour Monday, including a scheduled April 17 performance in The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.

They also might find themselves in an unscheduled visit to the Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas.

The two sides are producing evidence for a trial, but U.S. District Judge Philip Pro has yet to set a date for the proceedings to begin.

Merrick said he discovered The Killers when they were an unknown collection of musicians playing at a now-closed Las Vegas bar called the Junkyard. He shopped their music around and comforted the band when it was consistently shot down by major recording companies, including Warner Bros., Merrick claims.

The band gained popularity after Merrick helped secure a contract with Def Jam Music Group.

"The Killers have taken the money they owe Merrick and his management company and stuffed it into their own jeans," Merrick's lawsuit states. "Rather than expressing gratitude, heaping praise or paying the commissions they agreed to pay, The Killers have callously kicked Merrick to the nose-bleed seats."

Merrick first encountered The Killers in 2002, when he heard them perform their hit "Mr. Brightside," according to the lawsuit. In April 2003, the band entered into an agreement with Merrick and his company From the Future, making Merrick its exclusive personal manager.

Merrick ultimately landed The Killers a contract with Def Jam, and they subsequently produced their album "Hot Fuss," which has sold more than 6 million compact discs, the lawsuit states. The band has made more than $25 million. According to the agreement between Merrick and The Killers, Merrick was entitled to 25 percent of the band's gross income.

Although Merrick believed the contract covered four years, the band abruptly fired him in 2006 and went with Los Angeles-based attorney Robert Reynolds. That's when Merrick filed the lawsuit.

"The Killers and their attorney, Reynolds, greedily determined, after having achieved only dreamt-of success, to torpedo Merrick and FTF," according to the lawsuit.

Another Killers attorney, Navid Soleymani, unsuccessfully tried to delay the trial until the California Labor Commission has a chance to review Merrick. Reynolds claims Merrick performed the service of a talent agent without a license, a violation of California law, and therefore his contract with The Killers should be deemed null and void.

In the complaint filed with the Labor Commission, Soleymani said Merrick was secretly serving as a talent scout while also managing The Killers, a violation of their contract. He said Merrick was "grossly incompetent" as The Killers' manager.

"This is the story of an incompetent manager who abandoned his clients at a critical juncture of their careers, and now seeks to cash in on their success," Soleymani wrote in his complaint.

During The Killers' climb to fame, Soleymani said, Merrick was nowhere to be found when the band members needed his advice, missed appointments and never returned their phone calls.

"Merrick never took responsibility for his actions; instead, he repeatedly offered excuses, pointed the finger at others for his incompetence, and even laid blame on his cellular phone battery," Soleymani wrote.

The Killers voiced their concerns in an April 2006 letter to Merrick.

"The primary complaints alleged by the band are instances wherein you have been deceptive with the band ... and/or have failed to communicate with them and others as necessary," the letter stated.

Merrick never responded to that letter, Soleymani said.

Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.