Chad Taylor settles defamation suit filed by Bill Hynes, York Daily Record Options

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https://www.ydr.com/story/news/local/2025/0...it/83043857007/

Live guitarist Chad Taylor settles defamation suit filed by Bill Hynes

Mike Argento
York Daily Record
Published April 11, 2025

In February 2023, Rolling Stone magazine published a lengthy autopsy of the '90s alt-rock band Live, focusing on the band's disintegration and descent into a seemingly endless morass of lawsuits and recriminations.

In the article, Live guitarist Chad Taylor placed a lot of the blame for the band's downfall, and the collapse of the band members' foray into developing a high-speed fiber optic network and redeveloping a blighted area in York's north end, on Bill Hynes.

Hynes had served as a CEO of the band's business venture, United Fiber & Data, and in the interview, Taylor accused Hynes of various nefarious acts, describing him as a con artist who stole millions of dollars from him, leaving him practically broke. The headline on the article was "How an Alleged Con Man Tore Apart One of the Nineties’ Biggest Bands."



Hynes vehemently disputed Taylor's accusations, and a month after the article was published he filed a defamation suit against the guitarist, claiming that Taylor knew the statements to be false “or alternatively, acted with reckless disregard for their truth or falsity.” Hynes asserted in the suit, “There is absolutely no documentary or other evidence supporting the false allegations of (Taylor), because it is pure malicious fantasy."

As the lawsuit worked its way through the court system, Taylor provided a sworn affidavit "to correct and clarify certain statements I made in the Rolling Stone's interview."

He wrote, "Many of the implications and quotations contained in this article were based on my limited knowledge at that time, and I have subsequently learned through discovery that many of my impressions were not complete."

In 2023, state police filed charges alleging that Hynes had stolen nearly $4.4 million from United Fiber & Data and associated businesses during his tenure as CEO. Hynes has asserted that he is innocent of the charges.

In his affidavit, Taylor says that principles and investors in the business were aware of and supported Hynes' activities running the various companies.

Taylor wrote, "Over the years of our partnership, Mr. Hynes provided essential capital and leadership to bring stability to 120 York and other entities (both personal and corporate) when needed."

As a result of Taylor's affidavit, the lawsuit was settled in March. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the one-page notice "to settle, discontinue and end" the litigation.



Hynes did not comment on the settlement, except to say, in a text, "there's more to the story." Taylor did not respond to a text seeking comment.

The theft charges against Hynes are pending.

In June 2024, UDF sold its remaining assets, including its high-speed data lines, to Cablevision Lightpath for $36.6 million, less that half of the company's debt of more than $85 million.

Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.