Flo Rida Refuses to Pay, Claims NSW Court Has No Jurisdiction Over Him
American rapper Flo Rida is refusing to obey the orders of an Australian court. The 33-year-old singer reasons out that the NSW district court had no jurisdiction over him when he was ordered to pay almost $400,000 for failing to appear at the Fat As Butter festival in October 2011.
Festival-goers of the celebrated Newcastle music fest were outraged upon that the rapper, whose real name is Tramar Dillard, cancelled his appearance just minutes before he was scheduled to perform on stage.
The event promoters announced on Facebook that Flo Rida was experiencing “transport issues” so he would be unable to perform on stage. They followed up their post, saying that they are also upset with the rapper’s “hissy fit,” especially since they already paid him.
He was already in Sydney at that time.
For his part, Flo only left a vague post on his Twitter regarding his non-appearance, saying, “Australia fans, I was looking forward to performing for you but due to unforeseen circumstances I wasn’t able to do so last night.”
Last year in April, Mothership Music concert promoter Brent Lean sued and won against the music star in court for breach of contract. The NSW District Court then ordered Flo and VIP Entertainment and Concepts to pay damages of $380,400 and legal fees amounting to $37,745.
The “Good Feeling” rapper’s Australian assets were also ordered to be frozen, AAP reports.
But now, his lawyer, Nick Furlan, argued that the NSW District Court didn’t have a jurisdiction over the hip-hop star when it made a judgment against him because Flo wasn’t in the state when the proceedings began on April 13.
“My client is an American resident who lives and works in America,” Furlan was quoted by AAP as saying. “There was no evidence that he was in NSW on April 13.”
The NSW court allowed a claim to be served on him through Facebook because officials were unable to contact him when he visited the country in April 2012 to appear at the Supafest tour and the Melbourne Logies.
The appeal is heard before Justices Robert Macfarlan, Julie Ward, and Fabian Gleeson, and will continue at a later date.
Fat As Butter 2011 crowd reacts to announcement of Flo Rida’s non-appearance: