Burna Boy promoter: We will not cease and desist

ANOTHER of the promoters of Friday’s Burna Boy concert insists the show will not be stopped and is prepared for any court battle.

On Thursday, attorneys Vikash Indar Lal, Chase Pegus, and Mathias Sylvester, who represent Sean Moses, of SM Promotions, one of the promotional groups responsible for bringing Damini "Burna Boy" Ebunoluwa Ogulu to Trinidad, fired off a response to a similar letter sent to their client on Wednesday by Cash Money Brothers Promotions, Michael Durham.

Durham has alleged five other promotional outfits, whom he approached as collaborators and investors for the concert, engaged in certain activities which saw Cash Money being pushed out of the picture and of engaging in a conspiracy by using private information to book the "African Giant," themselves.

Durham threatened to go to court to stop the event. Durham accused Moses, Osita Ugeh of Duke Concepts, Crystal Cunningham of Twisted Entertainment Barbados, and Jules Sobian of Caesars Army of pushing him out of hosting the Burna Boy concert although he initially secured the artist to perform in Trinidad.

On Thursday, Twisted Entertainment issued a press release in which they assured Friday’s concert at O2 Park, Chaguaramas, will go on and will be a super concert.

The release said everything was in place for an amazing concert.

In Thursday’s letter, Moses’s attorneys responded to Durham’s.

They insisted they would not “cease and desist” from holding the concert nor would they give in to any demand for compensation.

In it, they demanded Durham to produce the certificate of incorporation for Cash Money Brothers Promotions and proof of registration showing the names of those trading under that name.

“In any event, we do not know with certainty whom exactly you represent,” the letter, addressed to Durham’s attorney Marika Trimm, said.

They also pointed out Durham admitted his alleged contract with the artist was unsigned by Damini.

As to the particular allegations levelled against Moses, the attorneys said it was vague and all that was shared with them were bundles of documents comprising text messages and diagrams. They also said no recording of alleged voice notes was shared.

“My client therefore cannot fairly respond to the allegations made since he has not been made aware of the specific alleged confidential and/or proprietary information.”

They also said Moses never received any of the information Durham claimed to have shared with him and the other promoters which included the artist’s rider, the contract, approval for the stadium and savannah venues, stage designs, proposed sponsors, and the budget for the event, among other things.

“Moreover, the fact that my client has entered into arrangements with the said artist for him to perform at a concert on December 16, 2022, without more, cannot by any stretch of the imagination be proof of any such alleged conspiracy.

“The fact that my client is the local promoter of a Burna Boy concert has obviously caused much distress to your client to the point where he is making wild, spurious and desperate allegations against mine.”

The attorneys, all of Veritas Chambers, said Moses was always free to enter into contractual arrangements with Burna Boy and his agents. They also said Damini’s cancellation of arrangements with Cash Money had nothing to do with their client.

“That vague and unparticularised allegation appears to be the core of your client’s complaint, which in any event my client categorically denies.”

The attorneys said the threat of litigation has been widely publicised and had impacted negatively on the pace of ticket sales and has caused concern amongst all parties, service providers and stakeholders of the concert.

They also said Moses “will resist strenuously any attempt by yours to move the court to stop the concert, when all arrangements have been put in place,” as this will expose the promoters to significant damages and financial loss.

The attorneys also threatened to file a wasted cost order against Durham’s attorneys, damages and asked that their letter be provided to the court if an injunction is sought.

The Grammy award-winning afrofusion star’s Love Damini tour will see the artist performing in Antigua and Jamaica this month as well as Trinidad. He performed in Tobago just before the island's first Carnival in October.