Krewella Split Over Suit

Kris Trindl’s complaint against sisters Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf seeks declaratory relief and brings forth charges of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and imposition of constructive trust, and violation of the Lanham Act. Trindl met the Yousaf sisters during high school in suburban Chicago in 2005 and a few years later they made a vow to “put aside any other career plans outside of music and commit to Krewella,” according to court documents.

Krewella gained fame on the internet in 2012 with a video of their song, “Killin’ It” that eventually netted them a recording deal with Columbia Records. But with fame came a grueling touring schedule and heavy drinking and partying, the suit says, which took a toll on Trindl.

Trindl says he entered rehab in 2013, but his newfound sobriety caused a schism in the group for the Yousafs, who “thought he was depressed and didn’t like it.”

The Yousafs and the band’s manager then “conspired to remove Kris from the group altogether,” the suit alleges. “Now that the band was successful, they figured they could always hire outside people to write and produce music for far less money than it would cost to continue splitting their income equally with Kris.”

An intervention was staged where the Yousafs, the group’s lawyer and others demanded Trindl take a break and return to rehab for depression. He agreed, but while on hiatus he was asked to take a lesser share of the group’s income and discovered his image was being omitted from billboards featuring the group. He retained an attorney that began attempting to negotiate terms on his behalf, but talks broke down, the suit claims.

Richard Busch, lawyer for the Yousafs, then sent a letter to Trindl’s attorney, writing, “Trindl would only be entitled to a share of income as of the date of his resignation and then nothing further, although Busch’s incendiary letter cannot state what date that allegedly would be, because there was no resignation.” Trindl’s suit seeks general damages of at least $5 million, statutory damages of up to $2 million per use of the Krewella trademark, constructive trust, injunctive and declaratory relief, costs and attorneys’ fees.

The Yousaf sisters responded in a statement on Krewella’s Facebook page asking fans to “please be patient and not come to any conclusions until we are able to respond to the lawsuit with the truth.” “Our team has advised that we don’t get into any specifics until we can properly respond to the false claims made—most importantly being that we did not kick Kris out of Krewella, he resigned,” they wrote.