After Kanye West cancelled his tour last year and took some time for himself in the aftermath of Kim Kardashian's robbery and some unusual behaviour during a stop in California, he and his company expected some insurance money to recoup the cash that would have come from the missed tour dates. Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, they're still waiting. So Kanye and Very Good Touring, Inc., his company, are suing Lloyd's of London for a cool $10 million (£7.56 million).
West's legal team claims that Lloyd's is stalling on making the payments due to the fact that Kanye's medical examination after the cancellation found marijuana in his system. In the filing, which was submitted in California, Very Good Touring says that it filed a claim two days after West was admitted to UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital and hasn't received any sort of payment almost eight months later.
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"Nor have they provided anything approaching a coherent explanation about why they have not paid, or any indication if they will ever pay or even make a coverage decision, implying that Kanye's use of marijuana may provide them with a basis to deny the claim and retain the hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums paid by Very Good," the complaint reads. "The stalling is emblematic of a broader modus operandi of the insurers of never-ending post-claim underwriting where the insurers hunt for some contrived excuse not to pay."
THR explains that Very Good Inc. spent a huge amount of money on insurance for the tour and that Lloyd's started to show signs of shady business dealings as soon as West's camp filed the paperwork. Instead of simply using an insurance adjuster, the complaint claims that Lloyd's immediately hired a legal team. West's company saw that as a move to find any legal loopholes in the agreement, which included an immediate medical examination and a "sworn testimony from his primary physician" stating that he could no longer tour.
West's lawsuit alleges "breach of contract and breach of good faith and fair dealing." His team says that this is just how insurance companies like Lloyd's work and that it shouldn't be allowed to continue swindling artists. "Their business model thrives on conducting unending 'investigations,' of bona fide coverage requests, stalling interminably, running up their insured's costs, and avoiding coverage decisions based on flimsy excuses," the filing reads. "The artists think they're buying peace of mind. The insurers know they're just selling a ticket to the courthouse."
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