Timbaland sues Oz tour company for ruining concerts, tarnishing image

Hip-hop superstar Timbaland is suing an Australian tour company for unspecified damages in a US federal court, accusing it of ruining his local concerts and tarnishing his image.

He contends that the cancellation of his tour earlier this year was a breach of contract by Brisbane-based Showtime Touring Group.

“Despite Timbaland’s desire to perform for his Australia and New Zealand fans, he was unable to do so. From the moment the parties signed the contract at issue, Showtime breached its obligations,” the Herald Sun quoted the 19-page suit, obtained by News Limited, as stating.

The suit also revealed that Showtime had failed to pay Timbaland a performance fee of 1.26 million Australian dollars for the tour that the company had promised.

The contract between Showtime and Timbaland was that the singer would perform for a minimum of 40 minutes, and a maximum of an hour at each show.

The American music mogul also accused Showtime of releasing misleading information about the show, and arranging sponsorships and commercial tie-ins without his consent.

Timbaland was originally scheduled for five shows - in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Auckland - in July, but they were postponed to August before finally getting cancelled.

“Timbaland initially offered to postpone the tour dates to permit Showtime to get its act together so that he could entertain his fans,” the suit filed in New York’s District Court said.

“Showtime, however, was still unable to comply with its basic contractual obligations, including failing to pay the guaranteed due under the contract and failing to provide the required production elements for the tour.

“As a result, on the eve of Timberland’s first scheduled appearance, Showtime announced the official cancellation of the tour, disappointing hundreds of thousands of ticket-holding fans and subjecting Timbaland to considerable backlash in the Australian press, which falsely reported that the cancellation was due to Timbaland’s wedding and honeymoon,” added the suit.

Court records show that a summons has been issued to Showtime. (ANI)