Black Sherif: Cruise People Ltd. Sues Artiste, Demands Over $100k Compensation3 min read

In the suit filed at the High Court, the plaintiff alleged that Black Sherif failed to honour the agreement between them leading to the cancellation of the Afro Cruise Jam concert he had been scheduled for in August.

Cruise People Limited noted in the suit that after booking Black Sherif for the cruise and paying half of his booking fee ($20,000), the ‘Second Sermon’ hitmaker was expected to make a video confirming his participation in the event in Greece.

The Plaintiff claimed that after assurances that Black Sherif will send the video ahead of the media launch on May 19, the company paid $18,000 to secure cabins on the cruise and paid GH₵65,000 to Joy FM for the launch on Drive Time.

“The Plaintiff avers that as a result of the Defendant’s willful neglect and or refusal to confirm his musical performance on the Joy FM radio show through the video clip, the paid deposit of $18,000 for the cabins on the cruise ship was lost to the cruise line due to the cancellation of the booking of the cabins since the expected Interests and patronage of the event could not be guarantee,” part of the suit read.

Cruise People Limited added that Black Sherif knew that failure to perform “his obligations”(confirming his participation) would jeopardize the event since the patronage of the event, they stated, was dependent on Black Sherif announcing his availability to perform.

They added that this conduct constitutes a fundamental breach of the agreement executed on the 18th of April 2023, and defeats the agreement in its entirety.

The Afro Cruise Jam organisers are urging the court to direct Black Sherif to make available the $20,000 booking fee he was paid and also seeking $18,000 – the money lost in securing the cabins in the cruise ship.

Again, they are seeking “payment of interest on the $20,000 from the 18th April 2023, up to the date of final payment and an order directed at Defendant to pay Plaintiff $50,000 being lost profits occasioned by Defendant’s breach of the agreement.

Cruise People Limited are also seeking “an order directed at Defendant to pay to Plaintiff the Gh₵65,000 which was paid to the Multimedia Group with the sole purpose of advertising the video clip of the Defendant which the Defendant refused to make available, general damages for breach of contract and Costs Inclusive of legal fees.”

Background

This comes after the police arrested Black Sherif for breach of contract at the Kotoka International Airport on Wednesday after he arrived in Ghana.

Sources close to the musician confirmed he was booked for the event and paid an initial deposit of $20,000 out of the $40,000 booking fee.

The source also says the contract did not include a requirement for promotional videos for a press launch ahead of the yet-to-be-held event.

Amidst the threats of cancelling the contract and lawsuits, the singer’s agents chose to refund the initial deposit but they said the event organiser insisted on being reimbursed $50,000 instead of the initial $20,000 fee he parted with.

They noted that Black Sherif’s agents find the request unfair and inconsistent.

But, explaining his side of the story CEO of Cruise People Limited Daniel Vanderpuye insisted that a promotional video was part of Black Sherif’s obligations.

He stated that despite the musician’s failure to make the video available, his team made known in a mail that they were ready to make any changes or other proposals to their agreement that they deem fit.

However, he said they failed to reply to their mail for nearly two months.

Mr Vanderpuye said in the two months, he used all available resources to reach out to Black Sherif and his team but to no avail.

“Gramps Morgan was in Ghana, he called the team and they called his bluff. Papa Logic, Baba Sadiq, and Amakye Dede’s folks all reached out and they called their bluff. I didn’t want to go on this tangent so I used all available human resources to reach out to the team,” he told Kwame Dadzie.