Desmond Not Waiting On Princely Sum

Although a Dublin judge has ordered Prince to pay $2.95 million to Irish concert promoter MCD for the last-minute cancellation of a show in 2008, company chief Denis Desmond’s not waiting for the US pop veteran’s response.

He told Pollstar he’s already pursuing Prince via a European Enforcement Order (EEO), a method of enforcing foreign judgments within the European Union without the need for any intermediate proceedings.

Dublin’s Commercial awarded Desmond undisclosed damages Feb. 26, ruling that Prince committed to perform in Dublin’s 82,300-seat Croke Park in June 2008 and withdrew without reasonable excuse or explanation.

On March 26 High Court Justice Peter Kelly said he was making the total damages public because Prince has yet to pay any of the money agreed in the confidential settlement that was reached when the case was originally heard.

Kelly also made it clear the payment order was specifically against Prince, not his agents from William Morris Endeavour, which was cleared of any liability in the Commercial Court hearing.

Soon after Justice Kelly issued the enforcement order, MCD lawyer Maurice Collins said he might seek to pursue Prince via an EEO if the performer didn’t pay up soon.

Desmond’s company – Ireland’s biggest concert promoter – paid Prince half of his demanded $3 million fee up front. It also spent another $950,000 to book Croke Park for the night.

MCD also marketed the concert aggressively and shifted 55,000 tickets before having to refund them all.

During the February hearing, William Morris agent Marc Geiger testified that he rarely spoke to Prince directly and found him one of his toughest clients to communicate with.

He said he told Prince about the trouble he was causing Desmond and MCD, and the singer replied: “Tell the cat to chill. We will work something out.”