My anonymous souce claims I am sensationalising the story of the mystery behind Elliott Smith’s death in 2003. It is kinda hard to sensationalize it -every word is purple prose, lurid and horrid. I didn’t ask for this story but since I have it i’m gonna write it my way.
And my way is to share what I know when I know it.
And this leads to the character of the person who was the last to see him alive and also the first to see him dead: Elliott’s girlfriend Jennifer Chiba.
Chiba, River Cuomo’s ex incidently, sued Elliot Smith’s estate in 2004 (less than a year after Smith’s death) for one million bucks. Here are her claims as published in the Court Of Appeal Of The State Of California, Second Appelate Court, Division Seven:
“Chiba and Smith allegedly agreed to “live together, cohabitate and combine their efforts and earnings,” “share equally any and all property accumulated as a result of their efforts whether individual or combined,” and “hold themselves out to the public as husband and wife.” The complaint claimed Smith promised to provide for Chiba’s “financial needs and support for the rest of her life” in exchange for her domestic services as his “homemaker, housekeeper, cook, secretary, bookkeeper and financial counselor,” “forgo[ing] any independent career opportunities.”
Okay, then Chiba made a huge mistake:
“In a separate paragraph, the complaint also alleged that Chiba had agreed to be Smith’s “manager and agent for the purposes of arranging [his] booking and scheduling [his] appearances for musical performances” and to carry out “the preparation and production of [his] album” in exchange for “15% of the proceeds earned and received.”
She amended this to:
I”n November 1, 2004, Chiba filed her first amended complaint, in which she omitted in its entirety the paragraph detailing her role and rate of commission as Smith’s manager and agent. Instead, she added the terms “manager and agent” to the list of her duties as homemaker, housekeeper, cook, secretary, bookkeeper and financial counselor. “
You need a talent agency licence to book a musician. Chiba didn’t have one. The courts voided that portion of complaint and since one part was voided the entire oral contract was voided and the case thrown out of court.
Chiba didn’t know she needed a license but, would Smith have known? I think there is absolutely no doubt he would have. How could he not know Chiba would need a license to book shows for him. Did he have amnesia?
I think it isn’t outside the realms of possibility that Chiba lied about this.
OK, let’s say she added it for a little extra kick and overplayed her hand. That doesn’t make the rest of her claim of an oral contract with Smith untrue. OK. They entered into the arrangement according to the court records August 26th, 2002 and Smith died October 21st 2003. Smith was a popular artist, he would have received royalties and other monies in fourteen months. If they agreed to share their monies, where is Smith’s cancelled checks to Chiba? Where is the paper trail? There is none.
Now I have no proof but Chiba’s claims of an oral agreement beggers the imagination. Nine months after Smith’s “suicide” she had stopped crying long enough to sue his estate.
So it seems to me the one big witness as to Smith’s death is not credible at all.
That’s all for now.