A jury verdict finally put an end to Why Don’t We’s legal battle with its former management company on Thursday, culminating in a mixed result for both the band and Daniel Seavey‘s manager. Now, Seavey, whose push for songwriting and production credits on the group’s last album led to the lawsuit, is breaking his silence on the outcome.
“This verdict was by no means a ‘win,’” Seavey wrote on Instagram. “I’ve spent the last few years trying to find the words for this, hoping I’d never have to. But today, I have to face the reality that songs I poured my heart into – songs about love, heartbreak, my deepest anxieties, and uggles with self-worth, are not mine.”
Seavey previously explained that the group’s legal woes spiraled after he claimed he co-produced and wrote much of the group’s The Good Times and the Bad Ones yet was forced to give credit and higher royalty percentages to a man named Jaycen Joshua, who was involved in the project, but allegedly not to the extent Seavey was.
“The songs that carried my story are controlled and owned by people who had nothing to do with living it and I truly can’t imagine them being in worse hands,” Seavey wrote. “It’s a pain I wouldn’t wish on any artist. I hope young artists can learn from my experience — how to protect themselves, their art, and their future in an industry that doesn’t always have their best interests at heart.”
“Music isn’t just business. it’s memory. it’s emotion. it’s a timestamp of who we are and what we’ve been through. and while I may not own these songs, I do own my voice,” he added. “My passion. My future. and I will never stop creating, no matter what.”
Seavey ended his note by thanking fans who’ve “connected to my music,” adding that he’s looking “onward with optimism” ahead of his debut solo album, Second Wind, which drops next week. He added in a TikTok video: “We are out. We are done. Clean. Cut ties… I can officially move on with my life.”
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Why Don’t We’s four members named in the legal filings — Zach Herron, Corbyn Besson, Jonah Marais, and Jack Avery — must each pay their former managers a symbolic $4 ($1 each) over breach of contract, and as a result, will not be able to utilize the band’s name in the future. They also lost a defamation aspect of the lawsuit after accusing their former manager, David Loeffler, of abuse, owing Signature $400,000. Signature was also ordered to pay $400,000 for breach of fiduciary duty in the case, canceling out the fees.
“Finally, this lawsuit nightmare is over, and we’re excited to put this behind us and continue our solo careers,” read a statement from the band’s members, undersigned as “Formerly known as Why Don’t We.”
Signature originally sued for $50 million and ended up winning $3 million from Randy Phillips, Seavey’s manager and a manager for the group, after the jury found that he tortiously interfered with business relationships. Why Don’t We’s attorney Howard King tells Rolling Stone that the verdict “will surely be appealed.”
Signature Entertainment’s attorney, Michael Levin, told Rolling Stone Friday that he also plans to appeal their fee order and said he was “not interested in the band’s statement” when asked about it.
Levin also slammed the news coverage of a Why Don’t We’s lengthy 2021 statement accusing his client of abuse. “Now, it’s been established in court that those articles that were extraordinarily damaging to the reputation of my client were false,” Levin tells Rolling Stone. “The jury’s verdict was that those allegations were lies.”
