Dancehall artist Popcaan is refuting damaging statements made by a Bahamas promoter in the wake of the artiste’s no-show show in Abaco Islands, The Bahamas, last month, saying that a series of egregious breaches by the promoter of the artiste’s contract led to the artiste’s decision to not do the show.
“Some of these breaches of the talent agreement contract include late and non payments, venue changes without notification, technical difficulties, lack of venue accreditation, lack of security and a private area for the artiste,” a release from SMA Entertainment Consultants, said.
The Unruly team stated to the promoter that they would not proceed under these circumstances despite wanting to go forward for the fans.
“It was the promoter who apologized to the team for the many errors and pleaded with the team to perform and offered to pay the extra money and provide alternate transportation. When the team arrived to the dock for what was promised to be a 35 foot boat, there was a closed, dark bushed dock that even the driver of team expressed was dangerous. Given the prior issues – including security issues – faced with this promoter, the team decided not to chance remaining there,” the release said.
Bahamian promoter Damien Thomas, a principal of MVP Entertainment, one of the promoters behind the Unruly Bahamas Tour has vowed to seek redress for damages. Popcaan had been booked to appear at Freeport (June 2), Nassau (June 15), and Abaco Islands (June 16), the last of which is the bone of contention between the two parties. In a statement on Facebook, Thomas suggested that Popcaan was unprofessional and that he had been pulled from a flight after the artiste tried to leave the island.
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Ron Young, attorney-at-law for Popcaan, has been briefed on the matter and states that the promoter has no legal basis to sue.
“The terms of the engagement contract and the accompanying artist rider are clear. Based on the circumstances surrounding this incident we are confident that MVP Entertainment and its principal have no good chance of succeeding on any claim against my client. We hope that good sense prevails. We, however, will vigorously defend against any Claim made against our Client arising from this incident, including counterclaims for defamation of character. Finally, in the event of a dispute there are also clear steps under the contract that the promotor can take. Hopefully he reads it well,” attorney-at-law Ron Young said.
The lawyer also said that comments made by Thomas to the media in the wake of the incident are erroneous.
“Popcaan was never pulled off of a flight last Sunday in the Bahamas. The promoter posted on Facebook that the police were waiting at the airport to arrest Popcaan and Shane Brown, and Popcaan and his team – who had never even checked in or reached the airport – voluntarily went to the Nassau police station at the airport. Popcaan offered to return the deposit paid for the last show minus expenses for one night hotel which the team had to upfront. The promotor refused to accept the funds. The matter was discussed and no charges were laid against the artist as there was no basis for any charge,” the attorney-at-law said.
In closing, the release said that Popcaan would like to apologise to his fans in the Abaco Islands for his no-show but the “actions of the promoter with his continuous breaches made it impossible to continue with that arrangement”.
