lawsuits

Ross Butler Says He Didn’t Conspire With Courtney Love to Kill Her Daughter’s Ex

Ross Butler.
Ross Butler. Photo: David Livingston/Getty Images

Today in ludicrously bizarre reports that read like Mad Libs, Riverdale actor Ross Butler says he did not conspire with Courtney Love to murder Frances Bean Cobain’s ex-husband, Isaiah Silva. Although the existence of this conspiracy seems too absurd to be even 10 percent real, it undeniably is, as recent court documents show.

Here we go.

What … is going on?

On the night of June 3, 2016, Silvia claims that Sam Lutfi, Butler, investigator Yan Yukhtman, and musician Michael Schenk broke into the house he once shared with Frances Bean Cobain. There, Silva says the men beat him up, stole his cell phone, and forced him into a car and drove away; all of this, he maintains, was in an attempt to steal the guitar Kurt Cobain played on 1993’s MTV Unplugged.

What they hadn’t counted on, the suit suggests, was the fact that Silva wasn’t alone: According to the suit, a visiting friend ran out of the house, called 911, and parked his own car in the street, blocking the only exit from the dead-end road. After police arrived, Silva says he was pressured into saying that the incident was simply “a prank” gone wrong.

Butler confirms that he and Lufti were at Silva’s on June 3, 2016, but he claims they were there because they were worried about Cobain and Silva — who Butler says let them into they house — because they were not responding to the texts. Per recent court documents obtained by the Blast, Butler has asked for the lawsuit against him to be dismissed.

“I never entered into a conspiracy or otherwise agreed to commit any crime against Silva,” read the documents. “I never conspired with anyone else to murder or kidnap Silva … or take possession of a guitar that Silva claims Ms. Cobain gave to him as a gift.”

Okay. So, um, where does the alleged murder plot come in?

In his lawsuit, Silva says he believes that Butler, Lufti, and the other men intended to murder him, and had their alleged plot been successful, they would’ve gone through with it.

“Were it not for the intervention of [Silva’s friend] and LAPD, it is believed … Silva would have been taken to a secondary crime scene and murdered on June 3, 2016,” the lawsuit reads. Again, Butler denies the claims.

And what’s up with this guitar?

According to Spin, the desired guitar was a 1959 D-18E Martin, which Silva claims Cobain gave him as a gift and which family believes to be worth millions. It’s worth noting that Silva filed this lawsuit the very month that he and Cobain settled their divorce, six months after it was finalized. Per TMZ, the main reason the couple faced delays was because they had a major property dispute over who would get ownership of the guitar, which Silva ultimately won.

While Silva claims that Cobain gave him the guitar as an engagement present in January 2014, Love says that no such thing ever happened, and that her daughter never intended for such an exchange.

How do these people know each other?

If we’re being exhaustive, which we are, the relationships are as follows: Frances Bean Cobain is the only child of Love and the late Kurt Cobain, who were together from January 1990 through Cobain’s untimely death in 1994; Cobain and Silva were married; and Butler’s alleged role has definitely been the weirdest.

How did he get dragged into this?

He’s actually good friends with Love, whom he describes as his “mentor” and “big sister,” and with Lufti. Speaking of the latter in an interview with Vulture from May 2017, Butler said: “I met him [through a mutual friend] when I moved to L.A. and he was like, ‘Hey, do you wanna meet Courtney Love?’ and I said sure. She and I just clicked really well.”

So what’s next?

The next hearing for the case is scheduled for December 7, which gives us plenty of time to wrap our heads around the allegations.

Riverdale Star Denies Involvement in Bizarre Murder Plot