Saturday, May 2, 2009

Charges dropped against Steven Page

It's been a long time coming. An update on the sordid Steven Page/Christine Benedicto situation. I'd first posted about it when it happened last summer, and again in February when Page officially quit Barenaked Ladies. He's off the hook; let's hope he's off everything else, too.

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Charges dismissed against singer-songwriter Steven Page


Friday, May 1, 2009 | 1:38 PM ET
[story from CBC.Ca]

A New York judge has dismissed the drug possession charges against Canadian singer-songwriter Steven Page, former frontman of the pop group Barenaked Ladies.

According to Page's lawyer Mark Mahoney, the singer met the conditions New York Judge Thomas Miller laid out for him in October, including passing a drug screening test, undergoing therapy and having no further arrests.

Charges against the singer as well as his girlfriend and her roommate were dismissed earlier this week.

Page, Christine Benedicto and Stephanie Ford were arrested in July 2008 at the Fayetteville, N.Y., apartment where the two women live. Police allegedly found the trio with cocaine and marijuana and charged them with drug possession.

"The respect and responsibility I have earned over the course of my life and my career thus far are important to me and I am moving forward from this with gratitude and with hope," Page said in October.

"I also apologize to all of those I have hurt or embarrassed during this episode."

The dismissal of the charges means there will be no legal obstacle to Page entering the U.S., his lawyer said.

Page announced in February that he was leaving the Barenaked Ladies to pursue a solo career. He was not with the band in March as they accepted a Juno Award for their recent children's album Snacktime!

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Well. I was wondering when they would get around to making a decision on this. It surprises me, though, that now, when I hear their music, I get sad. Maybe it's my sensitivity lately to watching what people will do to their best friend(s), the selfishness of it all...or maybe it's just that, in meeting Page, I'd have put him at the very bottom of my "he's totally gonna become an adulterous cokehead" list (did you know I had such a list? Neither did I...). Either way, listening to their version of Lovers In A Dangerous Time will never be quite the same for me.

1 comment:

sloth said...

H, due to LJ having too many bad associations I have started a new blog mostly dedicated to rant. So I just thought I'd let my presence here be known. Will still read your LJ of course :)

-the recently de-mossed sloth