US Rapper Flo Rida, real name Tramar Dillard, was due to appear at Fat As Butter, a music festival held in New South Wales last year but failed to show at the last minute. Fat As Butter who had advertised Mr Dillard as one of their headline acts claims, ‘some people only bought their tickets to see him’. Mr Dillard had been due on stage shortly after 5pm at the October 22 event. The Festival boss, Mr Brent Lean claimed last year that the rapper’s manager had called organisers just two hours before the show to say he would not be making it.
On 1 May 2012, Mr Dillard was served by substituted service, via Facebook, with a summons to appear in the District Court of Sydney to face a damages suit including additional compensation for damage to the festival’s reputation and other claims. It is believed that this could take the claim to more than $100,000. Mr Dillard had already received an appearance fee of $55,000.00 prior to his non-attendance.
The District Court of New South Wales last month imposed an interim order to freeze any assets Mr Dillard owned in Australia to the value of $80,000.00.
Although Facebook was an unorthodox approach to sue the rapper, lawyers for the festival provided evidence to the District Court that as the rapper was an avid social media user, it would come to his attention quickly. Lawyers for the festival had previously tried to serve Mr Dillard personally, including at the Logies held only a few months ago, but Mr Dillard (and his posse) got away.
Utilising social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter in order to serve proceedings, are becoming more apparent in today’s society. If you would like to discuss these service options via these methods, please contact our office on 1800 621 071 or complete our online enquiry form by clicking here.
