May 28th 2024.
Durham, North Carolina's mayor, Leonardo Williams, has found himself in the middle of a controversy surrounding singer Monica's no-show at the 54th Annual Bimbé Cultural Arts Festival. Despite the city paying $37,000 for her performance, she did not appear as the headliner.
According to records, the city wrote checks totaling $45,000 to a local promoter, Christopher Weeks, to book Monica. The final payment was made just one day before the event. However, the check never cleared, leaving Durham without the significant amount of money. This has caused quite a stir, and Mayor Williams has been defending himself since the incident. He stated, "I want to make it clear that I did not steal any money, nor did I pay $37,000 to an unknown person."
Weeks claimed that he had contracted with one of Monica's booking agents for the performance. He said, "Everything was in place for the show to happen, and we did everything on the city's and my part to ensure that. The discrepancies were on Monica's end and had nothing to do with the City of Durham or myself." However, Maurio Jackson, a booking agent from Monica's BLUEICE Group, refuted Weeks' statement. He said, "Unfortunately, Chris did not work with anyone from Monica's team for the event in question."
The contract between Weeks and the city stated that if the artist did not show up, a full refund would be required. Weeks has promised to return the funds once he receives them and bring them back to the city. In the past, Durham had mentioned, "We have been working with a booking agent whom we have trusted for years. We were under the impression, based on our conversations on January 19, 2024, and then reaffirmed on February 9, 2024, that arrangements had been made for Monica's appearance. Thus, we began promoting her performance."
Just one day before Bimbé, Monica took to social media to address the situation. In a now-deleted post, she claimed to have had no knowledge of the event and confirmed that she would not be performing due to other scheduled shows. Despite this disappointment, Mayor Williams mentioned that festival attendees still showed up to support their community and other artists in the festival's lineup.
Mayor Williams has assured the public that the money will be returned to Durham, and an investigation is underway to uncover more information about the incident.
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