Parting is such sweet sorrow for Jon Bon Jovi and his longtime manager, Jack Rovner, who was fired this week after a number of snafus.
While no one will say anything unkind on the record, Rovner was seen around town crying in his beer because Jon told him, “I’m going in a different direction.”
Rovner and his Vector Management were blamed for problems with the $1,000 VIP concert tickets sold in larger markets on the band’s tour for their latest album, “The Circle.” The VIP tickets were supposed to include a meet-and-greet with Bon Jovi and even a photo with the rock icon. But fans have been complaining they were never granted the promised access.
Rovner was also responsible for Jon doing an “artist in residence” stint at NBC, which blocked the band from promoting the album on other networks, and for the Showtime documentary “When We Were Beautiful,” in which “Jon makes the rest of the band admit they are paid employees and owe everything to him,” as one insider put it.
“Rovner recently sent his lawyer, Michael Guido, to ask Jon for a raise and was told he was lucky to have a job,” said our source.
Bon Jovi e-mailed us: “Though I personally live for and love media, I’m sorry to say that the tidbit you have received regarding the split between Vector Management and Bon Jovi is inaccurate. The boring truth is we decided to go in different directions and thanked both Jack and his team for a great job. He is and will remain a close friend and someone who I will be very grateful to for his dedication.”
A spokeswoman for Vector Management said: “Jack and everyone at Vector are very proud of the work they did [with Bon Jovi] together over the last five years, including their first Grammy awards, first No. 1 chart debuts globally, and even a No. 1 on the country charts. Vector continues to represent the nation’s top-selling acts, including Kings of Leon, Kid Rock, Dierks Bentley and many others.”
