Cardi B's agent says she wasn't paid in full

Cardi B's agent, Mike 'Mike G' Guirguis, has disputed claims that the Grammy Award-winning artiste received her full performance fee for her scheduled headline appearance at BZR WKND (Bizarre Weekend) in Jamaica, adding another dimension to the ongoing disagreement between the rapper and the event's organisers.

“Here’s the truth. @iamcardib never received her full fee for the Jamaica show, and the promoter failed to meet multiple obligations under the agreement. Any claim that she was paid in full is false. Her fans in Jamaica deserve transparency and accountability,” Guirguis, a partner at United Talent Agency (UTA), posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday night.

His comments came after Cardi B addressed the dispute in a separate live broadcast Tuesday night, apologising to the Jamaican Government and saying she was misled about their involvement and investment in the event.

Cardi B argued that if anyone owed the Government an apology, it was BZR WKND founder and chief executive officer Ryan Burke, whom she accused of misrepresenting the situation.

She added that she had text messages and an email to support her account and threatened to make them public.

NO RETURN OF DEPOSIT

Cardi B also maintained that she would not return the deposit. “I'm not giving back the deposit money. If you do an appointment with somebody and you give them the deposit money, and for some reason it's cancelled or whatever, the deposit don't go back,” she said.

Describing the matter as a breach of contract, Cardi B argued that the organisers had failed to meet their obligations, particularly regarding the timing of the production payment. “I don't even need my big super lawyers for this lawsuit, I could get a public defender ... because it's [on] paper that you breached contract,” she said.

The latest comments follow Burke's assertion in an interview with CVM TV that Cardi B was paid US$2.5 million in full for the October 18 performance. He said BZR WKND had retained legal counsel and intended to sue the artiste to recover the money he claimed was paid to her, as well as additional damages arising from the failed October 18 staging.

Cardi B has disputed that figure, saying she received US$900,000 and that the further payment was delayed beyond the agreed September 17 deadline, affecting arrangements for production. She also said she received US$750,000 after announcing that she would not perform on October 18 but returned it.

She also rejected suggestions that she withdrew from the performance because of her grandfather's death, describing the implication as “distasteful”. She maintained that the decision was due to what she described as the organisers' failure to meet their contractual obligations, particularly the delayed production payment and unprofessionalism.

In a release issued on Tuesday, BZR WKND maintained that the artiste was paid in full and denied receiving Government funding for the event. They, however, did not address Cardi B's other allegations, asking the public to “allow the appropriate legal process to take its course”.

The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport has also clarified that the Government made no commitment or payment towards the proposed concert, describing it as “a private commercial engagement in which the Government was not involved”.

Meanwhile, Burke said BZR WKND was still being planned for December 20 and that the team was “back to the drawing board”.

“It's not off, but we are, as I've mentioned, we're back at the drawing board trying to come back better, bigger, stronger,” he said.

Burke also assured patrons that refunds were being processed, acknowledging that the volume of requests had made the process lengthy but insisting that everyone would be reimbursed.

entertainment@gleanerjm.com