Just when you thought that the Woodstock 50 saga had come to an end, there’s just a little more drama to spice up your life.
Now, the organisers of the 50th anniversary Woodstock edition are in court against their original financier.
The organisers of Woodstock 50 have filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against the event’s original financier, claiming they”sabotaged” the festival.
Woodstock’s lawsuit is against Dentsu, a Japanese firm which agreed to finance the majority of the event which was first scheduled for August 2019. They claim that Dentsu conspired with a number of affiliate companies to prompt a breach of their contact, subsequently “absconding” with millions of dollars and “attacking” the festival in the press in an attempt to “kill the festival.”
When Dentsu decided to pull out of funding the festival, they claimed that it was cancelled, which Woodstock organisers quickly opposed. However, the damage had already been down, and Woodstock has claimed that Dentsu’s “sabotage” means that they should be entitled to “tens of millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages” which has not covered by the two-party arbitration hearings.
Following Dentsu’s decision to withdraw from the event, a judge ruled that the event contract did not authorise Dentsu to cancel the event, but allowed them to keep the $17.8 million they initially agreed to invest. After an ongoing search for new investors and a new venue which continued to fail, being denied a permit and after attempting to make it a free event, Woodstock 50 was officially cancelled on July 31.
The event was set to be one of the biggest in history, featuring the likes of Jay-Z, The Killers, Santana and Chance the Rapper. But the world watched as the festival slowly withered away into nothing. While it is certainly disappointing to see it in the can, at least its gradual demise was entertaining.
Next Up: Woodstock 50: The demise of the greatest festival of all time
