Hendrix’s Brother Drops Suit
Leon Hendrix has abandoned his defamation suit against stepsister
Janie Hendrix for her claim that Leon and late rocker Jimi Hendrix
were only half brothers. However, Leon will continue his fight to
wrest control of Jimi’s estate from Janie, who is no blood relation
to Jimi but is the president of the estate’s managing company
Experience Hendrix.
Leon maintains that he is indeed the son of Jimi’s father, Al
Hendrix, but his unwillingness to take a DNA test has prompted
Janie’s camp to question whether Leon is sure that the test will
come out in his favor.
“It’s difficult to understand why he wouldn’t be willing to
provide a simple cheek swab of his DNA for genetic testing,” says
Janie’s attorney John Wilson. “That would prove conclusively
whether or not he is Al’s biological son. If it is established that
Leon is not Al’s biological son, that substantially undercuts
Leon’s claims to a portion of [Jimi’s] estate.”
Leon says he dropped the defamation suit because the costs would
exceed any potential financial reward. He says that he still may
take a DNA test but chooses not to do so now because “it clouds the
issue. Janie is using all of this talk about DNA to distract from
the real lawsuit.”
The real lawsuit Leon refers to is his pursuit of total control
of Jimi’s estate. Leon claims that he was cheated out of his proper
share of Al’s inheritance and that Janie’s various marketing
strategies have damaged Jimi’s legacy.
Janie contends that the family squabbling is doing the most
harm. “It takes our focus away from the work we are doing here at
Experience Hendrix,” she says, “honoring and preserving Jimi’s
legacy.”