KRTA musician’s fame dies hard. According to a lawsuit filed by the family of George Harrison, the late member of the Beatles, Dr. Gilbert Lederman forced Harrison to autograph a guitar and two pictures for his son. The family is taking legal action against the doctor because now Lederman wants to auction the guitar and give the proceeds to charity. The doctor is also being charged with invading Harrison’s privacy by creating excessive media coverage in order to promote his medical practice.
Lederman is a leading cancer specialist from New York. Harrison’s family said that this is only some sort of an attempt to make something positive out of what the doctor did. The family decided that they would not drop the $10 million lawsuit.
Harrison was also denoted as “The Quiet One.” He never liked to parade his personal life to the media. So he remained away from the limelight. The influence of his music was a huge contribution to the success of the Beatles.
Two weeks before the ex-Beatle died after a battle with lung cancer and a brain tumor, Lederman persuaded Harrison to autograph the guitar by holding the musician’s hand and saying, “Come on, you can do this,” according to an article in the online newspaper, “The Age.” Harrison replied in discomfort that “he didn’t know if he could spell his own name anymore.” He was 58 when he died. The family of George Harrison said that the allegations were made because they don’t want Lederman to profit from such behavior. Another part of the allegations was that there were interviews conducted about Harrison by the doctor that went to various news vents, according to an article the The Age.
An appraisal was conducted with state investigation and found that the guitar would be worth less than $10,000. Lederman’s attorney stated that the doctor’s son still played guitar and had no intention of selling it. Another issue that was brought up was that Lederman even brought his son into Harrison’s estate to play guitar for the dying musician. The state’s Health Department reprimanded Lederman for talking to the press without Harrison’s consent and was also fined for $5,000. Lederman consented to the actions that were brought against him.
According to an article in Google News, after this lawsuit was filed and resolved, it’s now being said that under the terms of the settlement that the guitar is to be either disposed of or be destroyed. The settlement is also saying that two other autographs that were signed for Lederman’s daughters are said to be disposed of as well. Judge Nicholas Garaufis announced the agreement between the two parties in a Brooklyn Federal Court. It was concluded that the guitar would be disposed of in a private manner and that Lederman’s son would get a new one.
