A group of concert promoters from the U.S. and South America has filed an 11-count breach of contract lawsuit against Rod Stewart, his management, and talent and legal representatives, Billboard Bulletin reports. The suit — filed Wednesday in L.A. Superior Court by Norman, Okla.-based PM Group, Buenos Aires-based AKE Music SRL, and Lima, Peru-based Boulevard EIRL — claims that Stewart has failed to return a $780,000 deposit for a canceled tour of Mexico and South America.
The suit says that Stewart, who was to receive a $2.1 million fee in advance of the tour, cancelled the outing after PM failed to pay 50% of the fee by a pre-determined date. The suit seeks about $3 million in damages.
Stewart’s attorney Barry Tyerman says that when the promoters began selling tickets to the tour without permission and allegedly missed deposit deadlines, the artist had to cancel the tour to avoid being “further financially damaged” and avoid frustrating his fans.
Tyerman says Stewart’s time commitment to the tour and related expenses forfeited PM’s rights to the deposit. “It’s not like you put up [some of the] money and you get to the magic $2.1 [million] like a telethon and then the tour’s on,” says Tyerman.
Stewart is in the midst of a European tour that hits Nottingham, England, tonight (July 13) and wraps Aug. 2 in Monte Carlo.
— Erik Gruenwedel, L.A.