Eminem Ordered To Explain Concert Cancellation
The 80,000 tickets for the September 17, 2005 open-air concert — part of the European leg of the rapper's Anger Management 3 Tour — had sold out in an hour. But just weeks before it was to take place, Eminem pulled out of the gig, citing exhaustion (see "Eminem Cancels European Tour Due To Exhaustion"). Shortly thereafter it was announced that he had checked into a rehab facility seeking help for an addiction to prescription sleeping medication (see "Eminem Hospitalized For Sleep-Medication Dependency").
Irish authorities have asked Em to give evidence to a judge in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, according to the Telegraph. That testimony can then be used in the Irish lawsuit and read in the Dublin court.
The rapper's representatives reportedly requested that he be allowed to give testimony in private about the state of his health at the time of the cancellation and that evidence be kept private when it is raised in the Irish courtroom as well. But Irish Justice Peter Kelly denied that request, saying there was a constitutional mandate that justice be administered in public. The only guarantee the court was willing to give was that Eminem's testimony would be kept confidential until it was put into evidence.
In its suit, MCD claims that it had a contract with the three insurance companies — Liberty Syndicate Management Ltd, Brit Insurance Ltd and Markel International Ltd. — under which they agreed to cover MCD up to $2 million should the concert have to be canceled or relocated.
