Grammy-nominated singer T-Pain has pulled out of tonight’s Hits and Jams after-Mash concert because he reportedly received word that he would be kidnapped and killed should he travel to Guyana.
Kerwin Bollers and Rawle Ferguson, the organisers of the show that was dubbed as the biggest ever, said that the US singer’s management would not reveal the names of the persons the information was received from but would only say that they got an email and a phone call from a group which said that it had credible information that the singer would be kidnapped and killed should he set foot here.
The organisers received the shocking piece of information just around 11 pm on Saturday and they told the media yesterday that no amount of persuasion on their part or from their associates in the US could change the singer’s camp’s minds.
“He is a young singer and he is scared and his mother is scared…” Bollers told the media.
But the concert is still on and while Guyanese would not be able to see T-Pain, the organisers have hurriedly arranged for the appearance of five other Caribbean singers in addition to Jamaican Serani, who was slated to perform from the inception.
Those who are now expected to play at the concert are Beenie Man, Maxi Priest and his band, Shurwayne Winchester and his band, Peter Ram and Biggie Irie. The organisers have gone as far as to charter a jet to transport Beenie Man for the concert.
And for those who are so disappointed about the non-appearance of T-Pain that they would want their ticket money back, they have that option as well as the organisers said from 1 pm today they can visit the promoters’ Forshaw Street, Queenstown location and uplift their refunds.
Meanwhile, Bollers and Ferguson said that their lawyers are in talks with lawyers from T-Pain’s camp with the aim of not only getting a refund of the money they had paid him for his appearance, reportedly $20M, but also compensation for him pulling out of the concert at the last minute. And while the talks are going in their favour the two have not ruled out filing a lawsuit against the singer and his camp since according to them nowhere in the contract does it say that the singer could pull out if he receives threats.
According to the two they asked T-Pain’s management for the names of the persons who informed them of the threat so that local authorities could investigate but so far no names have been revealed.
Yesterday Bollers and Ferguson said they were shocked at the latest development while adding that it does not bode well for Guyana. They pointed out that T-Pain’s management said that the singer has visited places like the Congo and Peru and never received any threats to his life.
Stating that they applied for permission to hold the concert since last October, the organisers revealed that they spoke to the management of T-Pain up to Friday and everything was fine so it was a shock for them to receive the information on Saturday night.
Last week the Kashif and Shanghai organisation was forced to cancel an Allison Hinds concert they had billed for the National Park for Saturday night. Their announcement came on the heels of one by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport which stated that no permission was given to any organisation to hold a concert at the National Park.
Tonight’s concert will also see performances by soca queen, Shelly G, Timeka Marshall and X2.
