Daddy Yankee Loses Court Battle Over Cancelled Tour in South America

Reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee has lost a court battle after cancelling a 10-city tour in Argentina with only a two-days notice, TMZ reported. On November 21, the 36-year-old Puerto Rican star was ordered to pay up $6 million to a concert promoter that sued him for damages and stress.

"This is not a final verdict. We're working on a series of motions that we must exhaust before we can appeal this sentence, because the actions they're accusing Yankee of were neither authorized nor instigated by the artist or his company," the singer's attorney, Edwin Prado told Efe, according to Before Its News.

Prado explained that Icaro Services said through a statement that the cancellation of the tour was due "to the lack of payment in full to Icaro Services by those contracting the company, Diego De Iraola and Five Live Entertainment."

On November 2011, Argentine head of Five Entertainment, Diego Hernán de Iraola, sued Daddy Yankee for canceling a tour that inflicted de Iraola emotional stress, and made him suffer from "extreme distress," "nosebleeds" and "bleeding in his eyes," according to the Miami New Times.

De Iraola claimed that the artist, whose real name is Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, and his agent, Edgar Baldiri Martínez, had signed a contract committing to give six concerts in Argentina. The producer also paid Daddy Yankee $820,000 in advanced for the rights of the show.

Later, the "Gasolina" singer cancelled the tour and refused to pay de Iraola back. "As for De Iraola personally, he began to experience repeated panic attacks for which he sought treatment from the emergency room several times (including on the night of the cancellation of the tour)," the producer's attorney said in a statement, published by the Miami New Times.

"[De Iraola] also began to suffer from high blood pressure due to stress, which caused him to experience nosebleeds, bleeding in his eyes and numbness in his limbs. De Iraola was admitted to the emergency room several times for these complaints," continued the statement.

"In the months following the cancellation, De Iraola lived almost entirely confined to his home, due to debilitating anxiety and fear of public places and travel. He became increasingly depressed and suffered from extreme insomnia," wrote de Iraola's attorney.