Well, well, well. It would appear that the repercussions of simply choosing to not commit to his headlining slot at Fat As Butter last year have come back to bite Flo Rida.
In an unprecedented (in Australia) move from the presiding judge, Facebook was chosen as a means to summons the rapper, who had been otherwise unreachable. After FAB successfully proved in court that Flo Rida’s no-show caused damage to the festival’s rep, as well as directly resulting in a loss of income, i.e. ticket refunds, Flo was ordered to pay $418,000 to organisers: more than $320,000 on top of what they were originally seeking.
According to News.com.au, Lawyers for Flo Rida (real name Tramar Dillard) believe that the summons “was not validly served on the appellant (Dillard)”, appealing against the unorthodox method by which their client was served.
Flo Rida has obviously had a very hard time explaining to his record label why his albums will no longer sell in Australia, and as a result of a court ruling that the amount owed would be sourced from all sales from all things Flo Rida within the country, both he, and his label will be losing a big stream of revenue and it’ll pretty much make touring impossible.
Matt Hourn of Neville & Hourn Legal, representing Fat As Butter, is having none of it, and will be defending the claims, stating: “We will be lodging documents alleging the appeal filed on behalf of Flo Rida is incompetent, as the proper course should have been to set aside the judgment in the District Court,” he said. “On a positive note, this is the first we have heard from Flo Rida or his representatives since the case began. In any event, we will be seeking security for costs – in other words, money up front – from Flo Rida before the appeal is heard.”
Hourn added that Flo Rida “either has to pay off the debt in full, or risk that any funds earned in Australia will be frozen.” Brent Lean, top dog behind Fat As Butter, also commented on the final result: “When this case started out, all we wanted at the time was for the $55,000 appearance fee we paid him to be returned for his no-show.”
In other Fat As Butter news, this year’s instalment will be kicking off tomorrow! Music Feeds will be covering the whole thing on location. Stay tuned for live updates and just so many interviews!
