Rapper and
father of 2, Kanye West is suing various syndicates of insurer Lloyd's of
London, for not paying him claims emanating from a canceled tour, when he
reportedly
sufered a mental breakdown. 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, over 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.
West made
most of the concert dates but was forced to cancel two concerts when his wife,
Kim Kardashian, was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, France on Oct. 2, 2016.
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, to pay him his claims,
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."
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.
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