Ahmet Zappa has written an open letter to his brother Dweezil in an effort to end their long-running feud before their trademark battle heads to court in November
Last month, Dweezil gave a lengthy update on his dispute with his siblings in the Zappa Family Trust over trademarks and music licensing surrounding his performances of his father’s music.
Now Ahmet has responded in a lengthy update of his own, saying he was compelled to write when he discovered Dweezil was asking “our father’s fans for more money.”
Ahmet says: “Let me start by saying, I would rather be sitting face to face with Dweezil and figuring things out privately and respectfully – like I think families should do. Frank would have wanted that.
“That fact has never changed on my end. I have repeatedly said my door is open. The truth is, before Dweezil ever decided to take our unfinished family business public, I asked for a family meeting in February 2016 with our estate attorneys to discuss everything and Dweezil wanted his outside lawyer in attendance.
“We were fine with that, even though we were confused as to why he felt it necessary to bring an outside attorney. What was important to me was sitting down with my siblings, finding clarity, resolving outstanding issues and having a mutual understanding of our new roles since our mother passed.”
Dweezil recently claimed that the ZFT were attempting to stop him using his own name for public performances – but this is something Ahmet refutes.
He says: “While I do not want to argue with Dweezil, I am compelled to let you all know again and again that the ZFT has no issue with Dweezil performing under his full name Dweezil Zappa.
“The ZFT has never had an issue with it. The ZFT and its lawyers have repeated this to Dweezil and his different lawyers multiple times. For him to say that we have tried to stop him from using Dweezil Zappa is untrue and misleading.”
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Ahmet says the situation is not “black and white” but maintains that it can be resolved, and adds: “I ask anyone reading this that enjoys speaking up on this family situation to encourage Dweezil to sit down with me once and for all – and by all means wish us well as we navigate and protect the legacy of Frank Zappa.
“Because what I think is obvious common ground is that we both have a passion and love of our father. What I think should be happening is Dweezil should be out kicking ass playing Frank’s music on the road, while we are kicking ass here creating different outlets of our father’s work, both new and unseen for generations current and those to come.”
He adds: “Dweezil, this is all a sad waste of time and money. If you really wanted to resolve everything and be part of this family, you’d sit down with me like I have asked.
“I don’t want to keep doing this in public. Let’s get back to having respect for our family, our father’s legacy and what we have been given. You were raised better than this.”
He concludes: “Your call bro. I am here. You want to resolve everything sooner, I am here. Or you can keep writing blog posts, wasting time and money on lawyers. And then I’ll see you in November.”
Dweezil previously distanced himself from the proposed Frank Zappa hologram tour, which first came to light in September.
