NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — A U.S talent agency is going to court, claiming they are owed almost $2 million in unpaid artists fees by an Australian promoter.
According to Courthouse News, the American Talent Agency has filed a lawsuit against Supafest promoter Paperchase Touring and Entertainment seeking $1.92 million for bookings for the 2012 edition of the festival. ATA claims that they had worked with Paperchase on two previous editions of the festival and that the promoter used that previous working relationship to convince booked artists to perform despite not having recieved full payment in advance.
Kelly Rowland and T-Pain performed despite not having been paid in full in advance. Sean "Diddy" Combs was booked for the festival as well, but pulled out of the event after recieving only $200,000 of a promised $1.6 million fee, while other artists such as Missy Elliot were dropped from the lineup, leaving ATA owing Elliot a $50,000 cancellation fee and the loss of a 30,000 commission, ATA alleges.
ATA also claims that Paperchase continued to use Combs' and Elliot's name to promote the event, even after they were no longer on the lineup.
ATA contends that the promoter's business practices inflicted financial harm on ATA and caused it to lose reputation with clients, including T-Pain, who dropped the agency subsequently.
2012 marked the third year for Supafest, which is held over two weekends in in Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. The 2012 editions of the festival drew more than 100,000 fans.
Paperchase did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
