FUSE TV - Stone Temple Pilots Slap Scott Weiland With Lawsuit

Stone Temple Pilots fans weren't the only ones shocked to see Linkin Park's Chester Bennigton at the helm during a STP performance last weekend. According to an open letter on former frontman Scott Weiland's website, he was equally stunned. But the lead singer switcheroo was just the start—STP is now suing Weiland as well.

For those of you scratching your heads rights now, both the open letter and the lawsuit are just the latest developments in an afternoon soap-esque drama. Back in February, unbeknownst to the band's lead singer, STP announced to the world that Scott Weiland was fired. 

Weiland than tried to explain the firing away by saying that "It's a whole thing to just try to boost ticket sales." 

So, when news outlets reported that STP had switched lead singers last weekend, Weiland wasn't exactly thrilled. Yesterday, he took to his website to post an open letter to fans regarding the change.

"Like everybody else out there, I read about my band, Stone Temple Pilots, and their recent performance this past weekend with a new singer. To tell you the truth, it took me by surprise. And it hurt," Weiland wrote.

"First of all they don't have the legal right to call themselves STP because I'm still a member of the band. And more importantly, they don't have the ethical right to call themselves Stone Temple Pilots because it's misleading and dishonest to the millions of fans that have followed us for so many years."

Unfortunately, his former bandmates beat him to the whole "legal right to call themselves STP" bit and filed their own lawsuit on Friday—accusing Weiland of misusing the band's name to further his solo career.

According to CBS News, STP alleged that Weiland's issues with addiction and poor performances were detrimental to the band and it's earning potential.

"The band endured much strife and lost significant opportunities because of Weiland," the lawsuit states.

The band is also claiming all rights to the name Stone Temple Pilots, the band's songs, copyrights and trademarks. Which is going to be a major issue for Weiland as he frequently covers STP songs on solo shows. The suit even goes as far as to ask that the judge block Weiland from calling himself a former member of STP.

"Enough is enough," it states." Without relief from the court, Weiland will continue violating STP's rights, misappropriating STP assets and interfering with the band's livelihood."

And, in closing, we leave you with another line from Scott Weiland's open letter:

"I don't give a f-ck what they call themselves, but it's not Stone Temple Pilots."