The Ramones’ former business manager is suing the co-founder’s widow after she accused him of threatening to leak a sex tape of her.
David Frey, who was forced by a judge to step down from Ramones Productions Inc. in December, has sued guitarist Johnny Ramone’s widow, Linda, for $1 million in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Frey, 64, said Linda Cummings-Ramone’s allegations he was misogynistic and threatened to leak compromising footage of her in a bid to push her out of the company were “utterly false.”
Cummings-Ramone, 64, “intentionally, maliciously and in bad faith, solely to slander, defame and libel Frey and thereby to injure him in his business and profession and cause him actual reputational and financial harm,” Frey said in his defamation lawsuit.
The Ramones catalog is still more sedated than celebrated after years of legal battles between Cummings-Ramone, Frey and Mitchel Hyman, brother to frontman Joey Ramone.
Cummings-Ramone sued Hyman in January 2024, claiming he was trying to torment her until she quit Ramones Productions Inc.
The seminal punk band was led by singer Joey and Johnny, with each member adopting the surname Ramone.
The band became one of the most influential groups in rock history, but only Joey and Johnny remained through various lineup changes until the band’s ultimate retirement in 1996.
All four founders have died.
Despite their huge following and near-mythical status, the Ramones were never a commercial success.
A lawyer for Cummings-Ramone didn’t reply to a message seeking comment.
