Chris Beattie , former bassist and co-founding member of Hatebreed, has filed a lawsuit against the band, alleging unpaid profits.
Hatebreed announced the bassist's departure in February 2025. According to a statement from the bassist, he officially left Hatebreed on November 13, 2024, and clarified that it was not his decision to leave the band.
According to Billboard , the lawsuit, filed on July 30, alleges that Jasta (real name James Shanahan , the band's vocalist and co-founder) removed Beattie from Hatebreed in an attempt to obtain a larger share of the band's profits.
What does the process say?
In September 2015, “Beattie, [Matt] Byrne and Shanahan agreed that each would be entitled to 25% of merchandise sales and revenue, while the other two band members received 12.5%, accounting for the remaining 25% of sales” and that “Shanahan and/or the band’s manager Steve Ross maintained a specific bank account at Hatebreed and managed the band’s income and distributions to other members, including Beattie,” according to Blabbermouth .
It is alleged that Beattie and others had "no idea" how the profits were being distributed, with requests for specific financial information going unanswered.
Furthermore, according to Blabbermouth , "In addition, Beattie and Shanahan were the band's main songwriters and, together, earned the majority of the profits from the publication of their work," the lawsuit states. "With Beattie out of the band, Shanahan likely believed he could recoup significantly more in publishing profits."
Beattie alleged that Jasta exhibited "erratic behavior" prior to the bassist's removal from the band. The lawsuit claims that Jasta's behavior included "reprimanding and belittling the tour and band crew, as well as publicly posting about being stressed, exhausted, and generally overwhelmed.".
To date, Hatebreed has not released any statements regarding the Chris Beattie lawsuit.
Hatebreed has recruited guitarist Matt Bachand from the band Shadows Fall "for the foreseeable future" for live shows, and they are continuing their European tour.
Chris Beattie talks about leaving Hatebreed
In a recent interview with The New York Hardcore Chronicles Live!, Chris Beattie spoke about his departure from the band and described it as "completely unexpected" [transcription via Metal Sucks ]:
“We had just celebrated our 30th anniversary. It was incredible. A successful tour. We left on a high note. We did an amazing job. And, as I said publicly before, it wasn't my decision to leave the band. Someone saw an opportunity to take me out of the picture, and that's where I am now.”.
He continued: “Everything went really well that year, but there were things happening behind the scenes and it became a daunting task to get in touch with anyone. And I was basically the intermediary for the band members and the crew, and that became a difficult task for me. And I started asking a lot of questions, and that became problematic. I became a problem within the [organization].”
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