Kanye West Files $10 Million Lawsuit Over Tour Canceled Due to His Mental Breakdown
From an infamous concert in San Jose on Nov. 17 to a visit to Trump Tower a
few weeks later, Kanye West had observers buzzing about his behavior last year.
Even though he was hospitalized at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital Center
around Thanksgiving, few knew the full extent of what West endured in the
aftermath of a psychological breakdown.
Now The Hollywood Reporter has obtained an explosive new $10 million lawsuit
that details an extensive medical examination of the music star.
West is suing various syndicates of insurer Lloyd's of London, alleging they
are stalling on paying out claims emanating from a canceled tour. A loss claim
was tendered just two days after West checked himself into a psychiatric center,
but he and his company - Very Good Touring, Inc. - still have not been paid
more than eight months later, according to the suit.
"Nor have they provided anything approaching a coherent explanation about why
they have not paid, or any indication if they will ever pay or even make a
coverage decision, implying that Kanye's use of marijuana may provide them with
a basis to deny the claim and retain the hundreds of thousands of dollars in
insurance premiums paid by Very Good," states a complaint filed on Tuesday in
California federal court. "The stalling is emblematic of a broader modus
operandi of the insurers of never-ending post-claim underwriting where the
insurers hunt for some contrived excuse not to pay."
West originally planned a "Saint Pablo Tour" consisting of 38 events between
Aug. 12 and Nov. 2. His managers reached out to Lloyd's to get "peace of mind"
in case cancelations needed to occur. The star made most of the dates but was
forced to cancel two concerts when his wife, Kim Kardashian, was robbed at
gunpoint in Paris, France on Oct. 2, 2016. (Indeed, he famously walked off
stage when he learned of the incident.)
Thanks to the success of the tour, though, additional dates were arranged.
The second performance during this leg of the tour is where everything started
to fall apart.
In San Jose, West told the crowd, "I said something that was politically
incorrect. I told you I didn't vote, but if I were to have voted, I would have
voted for Trump."
He was booed.
Two days later, West appeared for a concert in Sacramento and launched a
15-minute tirade about various public figures, including Beyonce ("I was hurt
'cause I heard that you said you wouldn't perform unless you won Video of the
Year over me"), Jay Z ("I know you got killers. Please don't send them at my
head") and Hillary Clinton ("This Saint Pablo tour is the most relevant [thing]
happening. If your old ass keeps following old models, you'll be Hillary
Clinton").
West's lawsuit addresses this latter concert and notes the "strained,
confused and erratic" behavior in Sacramento, as well as the decision made the
following day to cancel the balance of the tour and issue full refunds. He was
soon hospitalized at UCLA, and the insurance companies were informed and later
provided with sworn testimony from his primary physician there that West
suffered a debilitating medical condition that required he not tour.
But that wasn't good enough for the insurance companies, according to the
suit.
"Almost immediately after the claim was submitted, Defendants selected legal
counsel to oversee the adjustment of the claim, instead of the more normal
approach of retaining a non-lawyer insurance adjuster," states West's complaint.
"Immediately turning to legal counsel made it clear that Defendants' goal was to
hunt for any ostensible excuse, no matter how fanciful, to deny coverage or to
maneuver themselves into a position of trying to negotiate a discount on the
loss payment."
West's court papers reveal the extent to which he has been attempting to
convince the insurers that his mental breakdown was indeed real.
"While Kanye was still under medical care for his disabling condition, the
Defendant syndicates demanded that Kanye submit to an immediate IME," states
court papers, referring to an independent medical examination. "Kanye was made
available for a purported IME by a doctor, hand-selected by the insurers'
counsel, who was predisposed to look for some reason to deny the claim. Yet even
Defendants' selected doctor had to admit that Kanye was disabled from being able
to continue with the Tour. As demanded by the insurers, Kanye was also
subsequently presented for an examination under oath ("EUO"), and at least
eleven other persons affiliated with Kanye and Very Good were similarly
presented for EUOs."
West still can't get answers about why the insurance companies won't pay up,
but according to court papers, the insurers demanded to interview others outside
of West's control to make a determination. The defendants are also said to be
raising "irrelevant facts" bearing on the issue of coverage. While those facts
aren't discussed in the lawsuit, some aggressive tabloids have been pushing for
information about the canceled tour and its aftermath, raising everything from
drug use to song lyrics as fodder.
The new lawsuit accuses the insurers of leaking private information regarding
the singer to news outlets.
"Plaintiff is informed and believes that the 'planting' of the Confidential
Information with news outlets... was part and parcel of Defendants' efforts to
impair Plaintiff's rights to the indemnity payments due under the Insurance
Policies," states the complaint, which nods to a non-disclosure agreement
between the parties.
And so West has filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and breach of
good faith and fair dealing against the various entities including Cathedral
Syndicate.
As West's lawyer Howard King writes, "Performing artists who pay handsomely
to insurance companies within the Lloyd's of London marketplace to obtain show
tour 'non-appearance or cancellation' insurance should take note of the lesson
to be learned from this lawsuit: Lloyd's companies enjoy collecting bonteous
premiums; they don't enjoy paying claims, no matter how legitimate. Their
business model thrives on conducting unending 'investigations,' of bona fide
coverage requests, stalling interminably, running up their insured's costs, and
avoiding coverage decisions based on flimsy excuses. The artists think they
they're buying peace of mind. The insurers know they're just selling a ticket to
the courthouse."
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