‘Hot in Toronto’ organizers sue multiple artists for breach of contract

In a follow-up to a story first reported by Speakers Corner, we’re learning new details about a highly promoted hip hop music festival that was cancelled abruptly this past summer. Organizers are taking the issue to court as many people still wait for refunds for tickets purchased.

The ‘Hot in Toronto’ festival was slated to occur in Downsview Park last June. It was first postponed, after its headliner act, Lil Wayne, dropped out for undisclosed reasons. Plans for a future event were also scrapped, leaving ticket holders like Ryan Leverton in the dark and out of money spent on tickets.

“I have emailed asking for a refund but they still haven’t responded,” Leverton told Speakers Corner back in June. He has since been refunded but only after disputing the charge with his bank.

“After festival organizers refused to respond to my requests for refunds, I had no choice but to work with my bank,” he told us this week. “A bank rep called me and asked me some questions, and what they determined was the event did not happen and they reversed the charges.”

Leverton is one of the lucky ones. Several of you have emailed us stating you’re still waiting for refunds, and requests to festival organizers for details have gone unanswered. 

“We were told to get a refund all we had to do was send our address and we would get it back. Up till now I haven’t heard anything from them and no refund,” Tianna Housen said in an email to Speakers Corner. “It’s really frustrating because many people spent our hard-earned money and haven’t gotten any answers as to what’s going on.”

The festival was promoted and planned by Festivals of Vaughan, which has successfully run other music festivals across the GTA. They have not responded to recent requests for comment but Speakers Corner has discovered they are responding in court, filing multiple lawsuits against artists they claim were paid deposits after oral contracts but failed to promote the event or perform.

Lil Wayne is not being sued but several other artists including Lil’ Kim, Fabulous, 2Chainz and Universal Attractions Agency, which represents the artists, were named in the court complaints.

Organizers allege the artists violated the oral contracts by not posting about the festival on social media and website along with not performing. There are several lawsuits filed which collectively seek a total of nearly $500,000, which are equal to the deposits organizers said they paid to the artists.

Speakers Corner reached out to Universal Attractions, Inc. for comment.

“Universal had no involvement in engaging headliner Lil Wayne, and it had no role in the cancellation of his appearance,” Universal’s Attorney Patrick Sullivan said. “Universal acted properly at all times and attempted to assist others with problems as they arose. As there is pending litigation, it is unable to comment further at this time.”

None of the allegations have been proven in court but when we told ticket holders about the lawsuits, they wondered if the legal battle is behind the delays to get refunds. We asked festival organizers to comment on that but neither they nor their attorney representing them in court responded.

“I haven’t heard of any lawsuits until now,” Leverton said. “If what they allege is true that probably was very difficult for them. I do empathize, but at the same time they stopped communicating. I think they should consider giving something to the customers, especially considering they mishandled the situation. They said they were going to give a refund, and then did not.”

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