A planned concert in Cleveland featuring GloRilla, Moneybagg Yo, and Skilla Baby has been canceled, and the drama behind it is a whole mess. A legal battle is now brewing, with a lawsuit alleging that the promoters forged contracts, lied about the artists’ bookings, and secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in deposits.
According to AllHipHop, Esmail Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against Shaw Management Enterprises for a whopping $2.5 million. The lawsuit alleges that Shaw Management forged documents and fraudulently secured over $280,000 in deposits from Esmail Entertainment.
The concert, originally scheduled for September 6 at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, was set to feature GloRilla as the headliner. However, things started to unravel just two days after tickets went on sale when the promotion group instructed Esmail Entertainment to pull all promotions without providing a valid reason.
Esmail Entertainment then reached out directly to GloRilla’s production team and was hit with a major surprise: GloRilla had not signed any contracts with them. In fact, her team advised that Shaw Management had only recently started trying to secure the performance. The lawsuit alleges that due to these forged documents, “GloRilla refused to book any event with Esmail.” The contracts for Moneybagg Yo and Skilla Baby are also alleged to be forged and fraudulent.
The lawsuit includes six separate counts, including fraud and civil theft. The entertainment company claims it lost $2.5 million in potential ticket sales, and as of the time of the suit’s filing, Shaw Management had only returned $20,000 of the deposits.
This concert fiasco is a wild turn of events, and fans who bought tickets are left in the lurch. Even more bizarre, tickets to the canceled event are still being listed for sale on resale sites for prices upwards of $1,000.
It’s a disappointing blow, especially for fans of GloRilla and the rest of the Southern rap lineup who were hyped to see them perform live in Cleveland. And a reminder to always be cautious about who you trust, especially when the stakes are high.
