Saweetie and Jason Derulo are facing lawsuits alleging they breached contracts to perform at Japan’s Afro Jam Festival in 2025.
Japanese concert promoters are suing both artists for millions of dollars in damages over their cancelled slots at Japan’s inaugural Afrobeats festival in July last year.
Afro Jam was originally billed to include shows across Okinawa, Osaka and Tokyo, but only the Tokyo performances ended up happening. The festival’s organisers blamed the cancellations on “artist and other operational reasons” at the time.
The Derulo lawsuit, obtained by Billboard, alleges Derulo was paid a $200,000 (£150,000) advance to perform in Okinawa and Osaka, before the promoters discovered that he was already contracted to perform in Spain during that time.
“Despite demand, Derulo has refused and continues to refuse to refund plaintiff’s deposit in the sum of $200,000,” the lawsuit states.
Saweetie has been hit with similar allegations over a $100,000 (£75,000) advance.
The lawsuit claims Saweetie used the promoters’ services to get a visa to travel to Tokyo, and performed at unaffiliated nightclubs while she was there.
“Had plaintiffs known the defendants’ true intentions, plaintiffs would never have entered into any performance agreement with Saweetie and her team,” the complaint says.
The promoters are demanding Derulo and Saweetie both repay their advances, plus $300,000 (£225,000) apiece for incurred expenses, and millions of dollars in punitive damages.
