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The district court in Sweden dismissed the lawsuit on March 4, filed by Avicii’s former manager Arash Pournouri against the late DJ’s estate and his surviving family members.
Pournouri had claimed that a 2016 Netflix documentary and two posthumously published books defamed him – violating an agreement that was supposedly intended to prevent Bergling from discussing their collaboration. Thomas Olsson, the lawyer representing Bergling’s estate, family and company, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, according to the Sweden Herald, that the court reached its decision because Pournouri’s lawsuit did not meet the requirements for one.
In a statement, Olsson described the decision to dismiss as “not entirely unexpected.” “It was quite obvious that this was a completely baseless lawsuit and it is just unfortunate that Arash Pournouri is trying to squeeze the last drops of attention out of this matter,” the lawyer said. “One can only hope that this is a clear message to him to put this matter behind him.”
Accusations of character assassination
According to the Sweden Herald, Pournouri’s lawsuit stated that he had defended himself against portrayals of himself that, in his opinion, made him appear responsible for Bergling’s mental illness and suicide. The lawsuit alleged that the way he was portrayed in the film “Avicii: True Stories” (2016) and in the books “Tim: The Official Biography of Avicii” (2021) and “Avicii: The Life and Music of Tim Bergling” (2024) was “inaccurate” and amounted to “character assassination.”
Pournouri’s representatives did not initially respond to ROLLING STONE’s inquiry about the rejection.
Klas Bergling, the late DJ’s father, expressed gratitude that the judge had ended the matter. “I just want to say how sad it is to see Tim’s name used in this context,” he said in a statement. “This process has caused strong emotions and great discomfort for me and Tim’s mother Anki. At the same time, we cannot understand Arash. We have said it several times since 2018, including publicly: Neither I nor Tim’s mother have ever blamed Arash for Tim’s suicide.” Klas announced that he would decline further comment on the matter.
Pournouri, who recently left the jury of “Idol” – Sweden’s version of “American Idol” – after almost two years, runs Unltd, a “brand builder, incubator and accelerator” that proudly highlights its connection to Avicii on its website.
