Prince sued for Croker no-show

POP superstar Prince may well be reflecting on the lyrics from his 1980s song Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? after hearing concert promoters MCD are to sue the performer for €1.6 million following the cancellation of a concert at Croke Park earlier this year.

MCD productions initiated proceedings against Prince “Rogers Nelson” at the High Court yesterday, claiming financial loss and damage to its commercial reputation over his cancellation of the concert which was due to be played at the Dublin stadium on June 16.

Rossa Fanning BL, acting on behalf of MCD, told Mr Justice Michael Peart that on October 16, a letter of demand setting out the amount MCD claim they are owed due to the cancellation was sent to Prince’s private residence, a New York firm of lawyers and the artist’s recording studio.

The letter sent to Prince’s home was returned as “undeliverable”, but the other letters were not returned.

As a result MCD requested orders from the High Court that would allow them to formally serve the proceedings on Prince and which would limit the time he can enter an appearance.

The judge agreed to grant the orders.

In an affidavit to the court, a solicitor on behalf of MCD said that last February the artist, through his agent Tony Goldring of William Morris agency, 1 William Morris Place, Beverly Hills, California, entered into a contract with MCD to perform at Croke Park.

MCD, who promoted the show, claim that in return for a fee of $3m (€2.2m), Prince agreed to perform the concert.

They claimed that following the payment of $1.5m to Prince’s agent, they received a subsequent and unambiguous email on February 28 from Mr Goldring confirming the agreement between both parties.

While no written contract existed, MCD say this email made it “abundantly clear” a contract was entered into.

However, on June 6 Prince gave notice, through his agent, that he wished to cancel. More than 55,000 tickets had been sold. Prince refused to play the concert, and did not give a substantial reason for doing so.

Insurance against cancellation is only available for cancellation due to specific unforeseeable circumstances.

MCD claim that the cost of the cancellation amounted to €1,664,945. In addition to substantial promotion costs, MCD said that all the tickets were refunded.