Taylor Swift has been slapped with a lawsuit for allegedly keeping a multi-million dollar paycheck even though she never performed the gig.
Swift has reportedly been sued over the $2.5 million paycheck she received to perform at the Capital Hoedown concert in Ottawa in August 2012, TMZ reports. The concert was canceled, and $1.8 million had to be refunded to customers; however, Swift allegedly pocketed the $2.5 million she was paid up front.
FIRE USA Inc., a Florida-based company that handled tickets for the show, filed the suit against Swift and her management company in New York court last month, according to the Ottawa Citizen. In the suit, the company claims "Swift and/or through her agent Messina refused to perform and/or reschedule a new appearance,” which “amounted to a breach” of the October 2011 contract.
Organizational problems led to the cancellation of the Hoedown in July, the Ottawa Citizen notes. Still, Swift had already been paid a non-refundable deposit of $250,000 in late October 2011 followed by $2.2 million that December. After customers who purchased tickets through Evo Merchant Services, a New York credit card payment processing company, demanded their money back, the payment company filed a claim against FIRE for $1.8 million in losses.
TMZ reports that the lawsuit asks for Swift to use her payment to refund the $1.8 million, but Swift's representatives allege she never made a deal with the ticket company.
The wholesome country star has actually faced legal woes before.
In 2010, news first surfaced that the 23-year-old's former manager, Dan Dymtrow, filed a lawsuit against Swift claiming she owed him millions of dollars for discovering her, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Her lawyer at the time called Dymtrow's claim "ludicrous."