California Labor Commission Rules For ICM In Celine Dion Case

The California Labor Commission has ruled that Celine Dion must continue to pay ICM Partners and Rob Prinz percentages of fees for performances until 2026, despite the artist ending her relationship with the agency.

The ruling that Dion’s contract to pay 3% of touring fees and 1.5% of her Las Vegas residency and Quebec performance fees to her former agent was adopted by California State Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower on Nov. 13.

According to court documents, the controversy was centered around Dion’s nearly $500 million “Omnibus” touring contract with AEG, negotiated by Prinz and the rest of Dion’s team at the time.

According to the documents, after years of developing a working relationship with Dion’s manager Rene Angélil, Prinz became a member of Dion’s team. When in 2015 Angélil became sick, he hired Aldo Giampaolo to replace him as manager. 

Giampaolo and Prinz worked together to hammer out Dion’s nine-year, $489,850,000 Omnibus Agreement with AEG, which secured the promoter with the rights to all of Dion’s shows from 2017 to 2026, and guaranteed Dion payments of at least $500,000 per residency performance, with 544 such performances in the period. 

Giampaolo and Prinz verbally agreed to a continuation of Prinz’s existing payment scheme, according to the documents: 3% for each touring performance, 1.5% for a Las Vegas residency show, and 1.5% for performances in her home market of Quebec. The labor commission found that this agreement was binding and, even though Dion went on to fire Giampaolo, she was still obligated to pay Prinz these fees for the entire period she was paid under the Omnibus agreement he negotiated. 

The Labor Commission cited precedent from “ICM Partners v. James Bates” and “The Endeavor Agency, LLC v. Alyssa Milano,” determining that commissions are owed even after termination of an agent and artists cannot unilaterally determine there is no need to pay for work already finished. 

“The abundance of extrinsic evidence present here supports the Labor Commissioner’s conclusion that a valid talent agent contract was formed between the parties,” The Labor Commission wrote. “In short, Prinz was always entitled to a 3% commission for global tours and a 1.5% commission for Las Vegas performances (except Quebec).   These were the terms of the deal which the parties understood, agreed to, and performed under for more than 10 years. Based on the  parties’  long-standing course of dealing,  a 3%  commission for global tours and 1.5% commission for Las Vegas residency performances were both reasonable and intended by the parties.”

The Omnibus deal contained minimum payments to Dion of $272 million for residency performances and $212,850,000 for touring performances, according to documents, which would mean minimum total payments to Prinz of $4 million and $6.4 million respectively, of which, only $1.5 million total has already been paid. The Labor Commission also determined Prinz was not entitled to any of Dion’s $5 million signing bonus.

 

Rick Levy, General Counsel for ICM Partners said in a statement: “This ruling leaves no doubt that Rob Prinz and ICM not only had a legally enforceable agreement to commission Ms. Dion’s AEG deal, but that, throughout her brilliant career, Rob represented her in an exemplary manner, culminating in an unprecedented touring and residency contract.  As the Labor Commissioner found, agents have every right to be paid for the work they do for their clients, especially where, as here, Rob’s more than two decades of hard work resulted in raising her compensation to dizzying new levels.”

Celine Dion sent the following statement to Pollstar: “I have paid Mr. Prinz many millions of dollars over the years. And when this all started, my team made an extremely generous offer to pay him and ICM many more millions for years to come, even though our old agreements were over and we had not made a new one. I’m not saying that Mr. Prinz did not do anything, but he’s taking much more credit for my career than he deserves.  Mr. Prinz had never asked to be paid for 10 years for a few months’ work, and I never agreed to it.”

“When Rene was alive, he took care of my business and was always very fair with the people we worked with, and he taught me to be the same.  Because he wasn’t here to stand up for me at the hearing, I feel like Mr. Prinz and ICM took advantage with their demands for money and revealing confidential information about my AEG deal. I feel betrayed.”