The Cruise People Limited has sued musician Black Sherif for breach of contract.
The plaintiff claimed in the High Court petition that Black Sherif refused to honor their agreement, resulting in the cancellation of the Afro Cruise Jam concert he had planned for August.
According to the lawsuit, after reserving Black Sherif for the cruise and paying half of his booking fee ($20,000), the ‘Second Sermon’ hitmaker was required to release a video verifying his presence in the event in Greece.
According to the Plaintiff, after receiving assurances that Black Sherif would submit the film ahead of the media debut on May 19, the firm paid $18,000 to book accommodations on the cruise and GH65,000 to Joy FM for the Drive Time premiere.
“The Plaintiff avers that as a result of the Defendant’s willful neglect and or refusal to confirm his musical performance on the Joy FM radio show via the video clip, the paid deposit of $18,000 for the cabins on the cruise ship was lost to the cruise line due to the cancellation of the booking of the cabins because the expected Interests and patronage of the event could not be guaranteed,” according to a portion of the suit.
According to Cruise People Limited, Black Sherif was aware that failing to perform “his obligations” (confirming his presence) would risk the event because patronage was contingent on Black Sherif stating his availability to perform.
They went on to say that this behavior is a fundamental breach of the agreement signed on April 18, 2023, and that it renders the agreement null and void.
The Afro Cruise Jam organizers are asking the court to order Black Sherif to return the $20,000 booking fee he received, as well as $18,000 for the money lost in getting berths on the cruise ship.
Again, they are seeking “payment of interest on the $20,000 from the 18th April 2023, up to the date of final payment and an order directed at Defendant to pay Plaintiff $50,000 being lost profits occasioned by Defendant’s breach of the agreement.
Cruise People Limited are also seeking “an order directed at Defendant to pay to Plaintiff the Gh₵65,000 which was paid to the Multimedia Group with the sole purpose of advertising the video clip of the Defendant which the Defendant refused to make available, general damages for breach of contract and Costs Inclusive of legal fees.”
Background
This comes after the police arrested Black Sherif for breach of contract at the Kotoka International Airport on Wednesday after he arrived in Ghana.
Sources close to the musician confirmed he was booked for the event and paid an initial deposit of $20,000 out of the $40,000 booking fee.
The source also says the contract did not include a requirement for promotional videos for a press launch ahead of the yet-to-be-held event.
Amidst the threats of cancelling the contract and lawsuits, the singer’s agents chose to refund the initial deposit but they said the event organiser insisted on being reimbursed $50,000 instead of the initial $20,000 fee he parted with.
They noted that Black Sherif’s agents find the request unfair and inconsistent.
But, explaining his side of the story CEO of Cruise People Limited Daniel Vanderpuye insisted that a promotional video was part of Black Sherif’s obligations.
He stated that despite the musician’s failure to make the video available, his team made known in a mail that they were ready to make any changes or other proposals to their agreement that they deem fit.
However, he said they failed to reply to their mail for nearly two months.
Mr Vanderpuye said in the two months, he used all available resources to reach out to Black Sherif and his team but to no avail.
“Gramps Morgan was in Ghana, he called the team and they called his bluff. Papa Logic, Baba Sadiq, and Amakye Dede’s folks all reached out and they called their bluff. I didn’t want to go on this tangent so I used all available human resources to reach out to the team,” he told Kwame Dadzie.
