2006.09.21 - Associated Press - Axl Rose Sued By Art Broker

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An art broker has filed a lawsuit against Axl Rose, claiming the rocker backed out of a deal to pay $2.36 million for an Andy Warhol portrait of John Lennon.

Acquire d'Arte, in a lawsuit filed Sept. 11 in Los Angeles Superior Court, said it negotiated with a New York art gallery and was able to lower the price of the artwork from $2.65 million to $2.36 million for Rose.

But after agreeing to buy the portrait, the Guns N' Roses frontman paid only $1.21 million, according to the lawsuit. Rose's manager and attorney told the broker the 44-year-old rocker would not pay the remaining balance because he didn't have enough money and "the painting was not worth the price he had agreed to pay," the lawsuit stated.

Rose's lawyer, Howard Weitzman, said some of the deal's terms and conditions may have been misrepresented to his client.

"It's my opinion that Axl Rose is the victim of some fraud or misrepresentation here," Weitzman said Wednesday.

Acquire d'Arte was seeking $1.15 million in damages.