Suit against R&B singer Ne-Yo heads to trial 

Posted: 7:05 pm Tue, July 13, 2010
By Rachel Pryzgoda
Daily Record Business Writer

A lawsuit against Grammy-winning R&B artist Ne-Yo has survived a defense challenge and is headed to trial in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court at the end of July.

Ne-Yo’s failure to show for a scheduled performance forced the event promoter to leave his business and find work overseas, said Jason C. Brino, an attorney for plaintiffs Kenyohn Clark and Wet Entertainment LLC of Kent, Wash.

“Since it’s happened, he has been working as a contractor in the Middle East,” Brino said. “His reputation [as an event promoter] was destroyed.”

“My concert, or lack thereof, has made living my life extremely difficult, financially and mentally,” Clark said in an e-mail.

Judge Paul Garvey Goetzke denied the motions without a hearing on July 2.

Ne-Yo allegedly failed to show up at a 2008 New Years Eve performance at the Bellevue, Wash.-based Meydenbauer Center, disappointing 1,500 fans who had paid from $125 to $1,275.

The complaint seeks $500,000 in damages from the star.

In addition, Clark and Wet Entertainment are suing Anne Arundel County-based Esterman Entertainment Inc., and CEO Mike Esterman, the booking agent for Ne-Yo. He is requesting $1 million in damages from Esterman for failing to deliver Ne-Yo and then refusing to refund Wet Entertainment’s $95,000 deposit.

The Meydenbauer Center rental was paid for completely by Wet Entertainment, said Stacy Graven, the center’s executive director.

Ne-Yo, whose birth name is Shaffer Smith, is subpoenaed to appear in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court starting July 28 for a three-day trial, said Brino, of Towson-based Bowie & Jensen LLC.

He described the case as “cut and dried” in his clients’ favor.

But, “they are throwing all kinds of [defense] our way.”

“We feel we will prevail in the controversy, in my opinion,” said Ne-Yo’s lawyer, John A. Scaldara, an Owings Mills-based partner with Offit Kurman.

According to the complaint, Esterman told Clark on Dec. 30 that Ne-Yo would be arriving at the airport at 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and would perform as scheduled at 11:30. On the day of the concert, however, Wet Entertainment learned Ne-Yo’s flight would not make it in time, and attempts on behalf of Esterman to find a last-minute substitute performer were unsuccessful, the lawsuit states.

Clark and Wet Entertainment filed suit in February 2009. The defendants’ lawyers filed motions to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment, in March and April 2009, but the judge did not rule on them until this month.