When the hip-hop star scrapped his tour, he submitted to an interrogation under oath. Yet possibly because of drug use, his insurers haven’t paid up on money allegedly owed.
After reported lawsuits involving TIDAL, the Chicago rapper has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Lloyd’s of London, alleging that the insurer has not paid him for claims involving the early cancellation of his “Saint Pablo Tour” due to an alleged mental breakdown.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the multi-million dollar lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in California federal court and it falls on various entities, including Cathedral Syndicate. West is alleging breach of contract and a breach of good faith and fair dealing.
In court documents, West says that he has not been paid for a loss claim that he tendered two days after checking himself into a psychiatric center last year. “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 the complaint. “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.”
The lawsuit claims that West suffered from a “disabling condition.” It also references the rapper’s onstage outbursts, citing “strained, confused and erratic” behavior ahead of the cancellation.
“While Kanye was still under medical care for his disabling condition, the Defendant syndicates demanded that Kanye submit to an immediate [independent medical examination],” states the court documents. “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.”
On top of this, West’s camp believes that his information was shared with news outlets through leaks, betraying non-disclosure agreements between both parties. “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.
Kanye’s lawyer Howard King says this is a lesson for all artists. “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 bounteous premiums; they don’t enjoy paying claims, no matter how legitimate,” he said in a statement. “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.”
