LaBelle Settles Promoter Suit

Patti LaBelle settled a breach of contract lawsuit June 1st against a Chesapeake, Va., concert promoter before it was scheduled to go to trial a few days later.

LaBelle and her management company, Pattonium Inc., agreed to a $75,126 settlement with Kensey Wright and Fifth Degree Entertainment for breach of contract, fraud and unjust enrichment.

According to the suit, LaBelle wasn’t paid in full for her 2003 performance at the annual football game between North Carolina Central University and North Carolina A&T University at RBC Center in Raleigh.

Wright allegedly gave LaBelle $9,873 before the concert and an IOU to pay the $75,126 balance plus interest. LaBelle went ahead and performed because she didn’t want to let down her fans, her attorney told The Virginian-Pilot. The promoter never came through with the rest of the cash.

Under the terms of the settlement, Wright and company will pay Pattonium Inc. a $10,000 initial payment followed by eight more payments of about $8,700, the paper said.