Stewart Decision OK With PM Group

The California Court of Appeal recently overturned a $1.6 million judgment against Rod Stewart, his attorney, management and Stewart’s agency at the time, ICM – but the company that originally sued Stewart considers the decision a victory.

The decision stems from a 2004 verdict won by Howard Pollack’s PM Group and various South American promoters.

Pollack et al claimed that after Stewart canceled a 2002 tour of Latin America, the $780,000 deposit was not returned to Pollack and his partners in South America. The jury reversed the $1.6 million judgment for interference but allowed the original decision to award the plaintiffs the $780,000 deposit return plus more than $470,000 in attorneys’ fees.

"More than half of the trial court judgment was reversed on appeal, so we’re more than half satisfied," Stewart attorney Skip Miller told Pollstar.

Pollack disagreed. They plaintiffs will not get the full amount of the original award but getting back the original deposit and attorneys fees affirms the court of appeals’ belief that there was misrepresentation on the part of Stewart, Pollack said.

"I’m glad Mr. Miller feels that this is a win," Pollack told Pollstar, "but we prevailed."

He added that his Norman, Okla.-based PM Group runs the Oklahoma Zoo Amphitheatre and does shows all over the world so it was important to be vindicated. He said his partners in South America were damaged by the canceled tour.

"When we first got the win, we got congratulations by every major agency, manager and person in the business from all over the world. It was overwhelming. Wrong is wrong. An artist can’t take your money and then flippantly say ‘a deal is deal,’" he said. "You get the money, you play the date."