Hoooooooo boy. As if this week couldn’t get any weirder! An episode of The Simpsons from 16 years ago came true with Donald Trump being elected to the White House, and now a truly bizarre stoush has erupted over Sydney’s iconic Hopetoun Hotel.
It was widely reported yesterday that the legendary Surry Hills pub — which closed its doors back in 2009 amid protests — had been purchased by Adrian Bull of Blind Records, who even confirmed his plans to reopen the live music venue next year in several statements to Music Feeds.
However, in an almost surprise-President-Trump-level twist, the Hopetoun’s current owners’ lawyers have just released an official statement from their clients, denying that any sale has taken place and basically accusing Bull of spouting utter — well — bullshit.
“The Hopetoun Hotel has not been sold and has not been sold to Mr. Adrian Bull,” the lawyers’ statement reads, adding:
“Our client, prior to being informed of the news articles published yesterday, had never heard of Mr. Adrian Bull. Our client has never been contacted by Mr. Adrian Bull.
“Our client does not know why Mr. Bull has made representations to the effect that he has purchased the Hopetoun Hotel when he has not.”
Music Feeds has contacted Bull for further comment, which he was unable to provide due to waiting for advice from his own legal eagles.
However, he did argue that we’re only getting “one side of the story”, promising punters that they’d get the other side of it soon enough.
Meanwhile, the Hopetoun’s current owners have declined to comment any further on the matter.
So basically, as of right now, we officially have no whether there are any plans to reopen The Hopetoun Hotel as a live music venue at all.
We’ll keep you updated with any more info as it develops. But as of right now —
