Van Jones Loses Bid To Oversee Prince's Estate
A Minneapolis judge recently appointed Comerica Bank & Trust N.A. to oversee Prince's estate.
In a report from Billboard, Judge Kevin Eide of the Carver County District Court, ruled that the bank will act as corporate permanent administrator for the $200 million estate, following a long and strenuous fight for ownership and representation between siblings, friends and lawyers.
Among them was Van Jones, the CNN commentator and good friend to the Purple One. Jones had filed legal paperwork to try to become a co-personal representative for Prince's estate (along with fellow former Prince lawyer, L. Londell McMillan), but both were denied.
Prior to Comerica, Bremer Trust, another bank, was temporarily overseeing the estate following Prince's death in April of last year. All of Prince's siblings were unanimous in their support for Comerica (which is reportedly the first time the siblings have been in agreement throughout this entire ordeal), but still believe that an individual representative was necessary to communicate between each other and the bank. However, Eide disagrees with the inclusion of a sole representative, citing potential conflicts of interest as a problem.
In other Prince related news, a new book on the artist's legacy will be dropping during the summer of this year. Titled Dig If U Will The Picture, the book will offer an "intimate" look into Prince's influential artistryby analyzing over 40 released albums; thousands of concert performances; and, of course, his vault. The vault will surely be of interest to the most devout Prince fans which, according to a press release, the book will offer a detailed analysis of.
The book, written by Ben Greenman (who also wrote George Clinton's …Ain’t That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You memoir, and Questlove's Mo Metta Blues) is expected to arrive on May 4, two weeks after the one year anniversary of Prince's death.
Fans can already pre-order a hardcover copy of Dig If U Will The Picture via Amazon.