Rapper Cardi B disputes $2.5 million Jamaica concert fee, threatens countersuit

Cardi B, the Grammy-winning American rapper, has rejected claims by a Jamaican festival promoter that she kept a $2.5 million fee for a show she never played, saying she received $900,000 and is ready to countersue.

The dispute centers on her headline slot at BZR WKND, short for Bizarre Weekend, which was set for Oct. 18 in Jamaica. Ryan Burke, the festival's founder and chief executive, told Jamaican broadcaster CVM TV that the rapper was paid $2.5 million in full. He said the company has hired lawyers and plans to sue to recover the money, plus damages.

Cardi B says the numbers are wrong. She said she received $900,000, and that a further payment due by Sept. 17 arrived late, which disrupted production plans. She said a later transfer of $750,000 reached her only after she had announced she would not perform, and that she sent that money back.

She has said she will keep the rest. "I'm not giving back the deposit money," she said, calling the cancellation a breach of contract by the organizers. She said she has text messages and an email that support her account and threatened to make them public.

Agent backs the rapper

Mike Guirguis, a partner at United Talent Agency who represents Cardi B, weighed in on X on Nov. 10. "@iamcardib never received her full fee for the Jamaica show," he wrote, adding that the promoter "failed to meet multiple obligations under the agreement" and that any claim of full payment was "false."

Cardi B pulled out of the Oct. 18 date, blaming the organizers' failure to meet their contractual obligations, in particular the delayed production payment, and what she called "unprofessionalism." She described suggestions that her grandfather's death was behind the cancellation as "distasteful."

Government steps back

The row has also pulled in Jamaica's government. Cardi B apologized to it, saying she had been misled about its involvement in the event. The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport said the state made no commitment or payment toward the concert, calling it "a private commercial engagement." BZR WKND also denied receiving government money.

Burke said the festival is "not off" and remains planned for Dec. 20, with his team "back at the drawing board." He said ticket refunds are being processed and that everyone will be repaid, though the process will take time.

Cardi B, born Belcalis Almánzar in New York, became one of the biggest names in hip-hop after her 2017 breakout single "Bodak Yellow." Her 2018 debut album "Invasion of Privacy" won the Grammy for best rap album, making her the first solo female artist to take the award.