Key Takeaways:
- Grizzly Touring is suing Rod Wave for $27 million after he canceled tour dates and allegedly kept advance payments.
- The lawsuit claims he spent tour funds on private jets and luxury homes instead of completing the 35-show contract.
- Grizzly Touring is also seeking a court order to block Rod Wave from launching new tours without their involvement.
Rod Wave is facing a lawsuit over his abruptly canceled “Last Lap Tour.” On Tuesday (Sept. 30), Grizzly Touring sued the rapper for allegedly failing to meet his contractual obligations.
According to legal filings obtained by TMZ, the touring company is seeking $27 million to recover unearned advances, plus additional damages tied to lost profits. Rod Wave was originally contracted for 35 shows with a payout of $40,250,000, half of which they claim was paid up front to cover production costs and other expenses.
In total, Grizzly Touring claims they gave him $57 million when factoring in additional costs. However, the Nostalgia rapper reportedly only performed 26 stops and pulled in just shy of $30 million. On top of that, the company’s attorney, Pravin Patel, alleges Rod Wave chose to spend portions of the advance on “private jets and lavish second homes.”
Why Rod Wave Canceled His “Last Lap Tour”
Rod Wave announced that he was canceling the remaining dates of his “Last Lap Tour” at the end of January. The rapper said the trek had been plagued by production problems “from the beginning” that extended into its second leg.
To make matters worse, the “Heart On Ice” artist was dealing with a foot injury at the time. “My foot and ankle injury [have] been killin’ me the whole tour, but this is what I had to do to continue,” he wrote alongside a photo of several pills in a clear Ziploc bag. “I [have] been mentally [whacked] out, so [please] excuse me.”
It’s worth mentioning that Rod Wave did promise fans he’d return to the stage “bigger and better” a few months after canceling the “Last Lap Tour.” So far, no new shows have been announced.
Grizzly Touring is trying to prevent that anyway, AllHipHop noted. The company reportedly filed a court order to block Rod Wave from launching any new tours without their involvement, citing a violation of the “exclusivity provision” in their deal.
Rod Wave Launched His Own Touring Company Afterward
Meanwhile, Rod Wave announced the launch of his own Mainstay Touring company last month. “What even pushed me to want to be more hands-on with touring is just the fact that my last tour had to get taken down because of the routing,” he told Billboard. “I’m saying putting it in people’s hands and promoters. I just wanted to be more in control.”