Bobby Shmurda explains why he cancelled his tour: “I have to go through lawsuits”
Brooklyn emcee Bobby Shmurda recently cancelled his tour across the US, which was supposed to begin later this month. He has already apologised to all of his fans and said he takes “full responsibility.” However, he also decided to call out his booking agent.
Unfortunately, Shmurda’s booking agent, Philip Stengel, decided to fire back. He insisted that the tour was cancelled due to poor ticket sales and revealed that the ‘Hot N*gga’ rhymer only averaged ten tickets for each city.
Taking to Instagram, Shmurda wrote, “I have to go through lawsuits with these guys @philipstengel works at @halotouring @igetgwop that I knew better to do business with. Let this be a life lesson to all business owners and affiliates. Don’t leave nothing in no one hands, don’t matter how much you gotta work.”
He continued, “Nobody’s gonna treat your work like it’s you except if you got a top pause, done expert, but that happens once in a blue moon because you have money does not make you a boss… I might have to go through some lawsuits and lawyer fee money a.k.a. The industry’s most wanted ain’t nothing new I been fighting.”
The Brooklyn legend posted some controversial screenshots of messages between him, Stengel, a booking agent at Halo Touring, and Sergio Patillo (the CEO of Oakstreet Media). The screenshot shows the group arguing about the tour’s promotion and marketing.
A lot of defamatory language was used in the group chat, and there seemed to be a lot of hostility. In one message Philip Stengel wrote, “Hey bitch lmk if you need the book mailing address to sue me,” adding, And anytime we can run the fucking fade ain’t no bitch here you ain’t gonna talk to me like you have been.”
Following Shmurda’s post, Stengel and Sergio Patillo put forward their own reasons for the tour’s cancellation. Patillo insisted some promoters didn’t “[run] the ads right,” but Stengel stood firm in his stance about ticket sales, writing online, “Let’s be clear: the tour was cancelled because average ticket sales across markets were 10 per city. That’s not viable under any circumstances — no matter the artist or budget! Bobby Shmurda chose to publicly vent rather than acknowledge performance metrics. His frustration is understood, but the numbers don’t lie. The problem wasn’t promotion — it was demand.”
Although Bobby Shmurda had a huge buzz around him in 2014, things haven’t been the same since his release from prison, and figures such as Pop Smoke and Sheff G filled his position while he was absent.