Singapore Promoter Wins In Court

The suit had been brought by Midas against LAMC over a 2012 Singapore concert by the comedian Russell Peters that Midas claimed LAMC had agreed to present jointly with Midas.

Though talks between the two companies had proceeded toward that end, the joint presentation never happened and LAMC promoted the concert on its own. Though no contract was signed, Midas claimed that such joint venture agreements are “typically decided in an informal setting without any form” of written contract, and sued LAMC for half of the profits from the Peters concert.

According to a statement released by LAMC, the judge in the case said that “Midas did not disclose to … LAMC that Michael Hosking [of Midas] faced a stonewall with [the] agent of Russell Peters [and that] Michael Hosking used Ross Knudson [of LAMC] to make something out of nothing.” In effect, Peters’ agent did not want to work with Hosking due to what she perceived as a threatening attitude.

The deal might have gone through “but greed got in the way,” said the judge. In addition, Hosking seems to have “offended” Peters’ manager. Midas alleged that LAMC was “in breach of an agreement” to promote Peters. According to the agreement, the parties would submit “identical bids to Peters’ agent” and whichever party was selected would share “obligations and revenues with the other” on a 50-50 basis.

At the same time each party would withdraw any bids currently pending. Midas alleged that LAMC “failed to withdraw their bid” and submit the identical bid per the agreement, but the judge determined that LAMC had kept their part of the agreement. In fact, it was MIdas who “did not even have a bid to withdraw,” according to the judge, so he dismissed Midas’s claim against LAMC.

As far as Midas’s other claim that LAMC and Peters’ agent “conspired…to cause injury to Midas,” the judge found that the claim “failed due to a lack of supporting evidence and was in any event not satisfactorily pleaded.”

Another claim by Midas for breach of confidence was withdrawn following cross-examination during the 3-day hearing in State Court. As a result, the judge dismissed all claims and ordered Midas to pay all costs.