Well, this is downright the strangest situation imaginable. Ross Butler has reportedly been sued alongside American singer-songwriter Courtney Love in a really complicated lawsuit. To summarize, Ross is being accused of conspiring to murder Courtney’s daughter’s ex-husband. But there are a lot of layers to story, so let’s break this thing down so we can (somewhat) wrap our heads around it.

So who exactly is involved in this mess?

First things first, there are a lot of players involved – so let’s get all of the people straight. Frances Bean Cobain is the daughter of Courtney Love and the late Kurt Cobain, former frontman of Nirvana. Frances, 26, has an ex-husband named Isaiah Silva, 33. Isaiah is suing Courtney Love, amongst others, for breaking into his home, stealing a guitar, and trying to kill him.

Back up, what’s the deal with the guitar?

OK, so Frances filed for divorce in March 2016. According to reports, there was some serious tension about who got custody of Kurt Cobain’s 959 D-18E Martin guitar. Isaiah ended up getting the instrument, as he said Frances gifted it to him. Now, Isaiah is claiming that his ex’s mother Courtney conspired to break into his home with the intentions of murdering him and taking back her late husband’s guitar. Sidenote: It was the guitar Kurt played on 1993’s MTV Unplugged, so it’s got some serious significance.

How the heck does Ross Butler fit into this story?

Ross Butler, Sam Lutfi, Yan Yukhtman, Michael Schenk, and John Nazarian are the individuals accused of teaming up with Courtney to commit the previously described crimes. Basically, Ross is friends with Sam Lutfi, who is Courtney Love’s current manager.

“A good friend of mine is her manager,” Ross explained in an interview with Vulture. “I met him [through a mutual friend] when I moved to LA and he was like, ‘Hey, do you wanna meet Courtney Love?’ and I said sure. She and I just clicked really well. She’s super educated, like a walking encyclopedia. She’s just decided to keep me around, and has been my mentor and my big sister ever since.”

What happened, according to Isaiah?

Isaiah claims that in June 2016, Sam Lutfi and two other men robbed, assaulted, kidnapped, and tried to kill him in his West Hollywood home.

What is Ross saying about all of this?

Ross denies he was involved in this crazy murder conspiracy. However, he does admit that he was at Isaiah’s house with Sam on the night in question. Ross said Sam was worried about Frances and Isaiah, as they had gone silent after sending concerning texts. So the 44-year-old manager picked up Ross, and they headed to the house.

“I then entered the house and was greeted calmly and amicably by Silva… Silva was frail, emaciated and had a terrible odor. The house was also messy and had a bad odor,” Ross explained, according to court documents.

Ross went on to say he was shocked he was being sued, as he wasn’t involved in the conspiracy in question.

“I never entered into a conspiracy or otherwise agreed to commit any crime against Silva,” the 28-year-old Riverdale and 13 Reasons Why star said in a statement. “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.”

So yeah, as you can see, it’s all pretty complicated. The next hearing will be on Dec. 7 – so we’ll see how this all plays out.
