Kevin Cadogan - Departure From Third Eye Blind

Departure From Third Eye Blind

Cadogan and Third Eye Blind "parted ways" in January 2000.

According to Cadogan, he was ousted without warning because he didn't agree to a deal that would have yielded a $1 million advance to record an EP and start an Elektra Records imprint for which Stephan Jenkins would have full ownership and control.

The controversial circumstances of Cadogan's departure stem from his allegations that Stephan Jenkins and he were to be partners of the corporation named Third Eye Blind Inc. Instead, Jenkins directed the band's manager Eric Godtland and the band's attorney Thomas Mandelbaum to issue Jenkins 100% of the shares to himself making Stephan Jenkins the sole owner of all Third Eye Blind assets. Kevin Cadogan claimed that he was told by the band attorney that shares had not been issued to anyone. Cadogan told the NY Times in 1999 that he discovered 100% of the shares had in fact been issued to Jenkins as far back as 1996 when Cadogan and Jenkins signed the definitive record contract with Elektra. Cadogan states that upon learning that Jenkins owned 100% of the band he then refused to sign off on any more recording contracts and loans until shares were also issued to Cadogan. In 1999 Cadogan was asked to sign a 1 million dollar loan from Elektra records which would allow Third Eye Blind to record an EP and release it on its own label as a subsidiary of Elektra. Cadogan refused to sign the deal, citing the fact that he would not own or have any control over the assets acquired from the deal. In November 1999 Elektra records issued the funds to the Stephan Jenkins owned Third Eye Blind corporation without Cadogan's signature as Elektra had previously required. Two months later in January 2000, Cadogan and Third Eye Blind parted ways after a concert in Utah. Despite having received the $1 million from Elektra back in 1999, the band never delivered the EP which the funds were allocated for. Cadogan filed suit, alleging wrongful termination, adding that his production, recording, and songwriter royalties were withheld since being kicked out of the band. The lawsuit was settled out of court in June 2002, with the terms of the settlement undisclosed.

A major point of contention between Cadogan and Jenkins was an original understanding that Cadogan and Jenkins were to be equal partners in Third Eye Blind, but Jenkins established Third Eye Blind Inc. on the eve of signing the band's original record deal with Elektra Records in 1996. All payments were subsequently directed in the record contract to be paid to Third Eye Blind Inc., effectively cutting Cadogan out of any partnership and making Jenkins the sole "owner" of the band. Cadogan says several years went by before he realized that this change had been made in the contract.

Third Eye Blind would later enter into litigation with the same people who helped Jenkins acquire 100% ownership. Jenkins and his former friend and manager Eric Godtland sued each other in 2007. Jenkins and former band attorney Thomas Mandelbaum sued each other in 2010. In the spring of 2011 Stephan Jenkins was sued by guitarist Tony Fredianelli.