Singer Sues Red Sox Over Music Video’s Performance

A singer who shot a music video in Fenway Park with the explicit permission of the Boston Red Sox, and convinced Star Trek star William Shatner to play an umpire in the spot, is accusing team ownership and other parties of working to undermine his success not long after the production’s release.

Brian Evans states in a civil lawsuit against The Boston Red Sox, Fenway Sports Management, Larry Luchino, Tom Werner, John Henry and others that his relationship with the Red Sox began smoothly.

After hearing a swing-style song he wrote, “At Fenway,” the team’s management was quick to approve the video project, he states. He includes as an exhibit in the case a letter from Red Sox executive David Friedman expressing limited support for the project. “We like the song,” Friedman wrote.

In the fall of 2012, Evans filmed the video — moving around the park in a tuxedo and singing into an old-fashioned microphone. He says he sang the Star Spangled Banner at a Red Sox home game in conjunction with the project. The video’s pre-release media blitz included appearances on Boston television stations and even on The Today Show with Shatner.

Evans’ suit claims things soured following the unexpected death of his mother, two weeks after the video was filmed, during a knee operation at a Methuen hospital owned by Steward Health Care, a company that participates in marketing activities with the Red Sox. Steward is not a defendant in Evans’ suit, though Evans has sued Steward — along with its owner, Cerberus Capital Management — in a separate claim.

Shortly after his mother’s death, Evans embarked on a very public campaign against the hospital company. In response, Evans maintains, Steward, the Red Sox and the team’s public relations firm, Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications, “conspired to torpedo” the video.