Elephant Man accused of defrauding Ghanaian event organizers $25,000

Jamaican music icon Elephant Man known as ‘Energy God’ is being trailed by two Ghanaian event promoters for refusing to return an amount of $25,000 they paid him to perform in Ghana.

Though Elephant Man did not turn up for the performance, he is reported to have refused to refund the money to the event organisers.

The Jamaican musician was supposed to perform in Accra on July 6, at the 2013 edition of Bass Awards by Rackus Productions in collaboration with Bullhaus Entertainment and Solid Multimedia.

Artiste Manager Bull Dog is in charge of Bullhaus while Sadeeq Abdulai Abu is from Solid Multimedia. Elephant Man was paid an amount of $25,000 excluding flight and accommodation, to perform.

But the dancehall musician, born O’Neil Bryan, did not show up. Well over a month after the event, the organizers are having a tough time retrieving their money from Elephant Man.

According to information available to NEWS-ONE, “All efforts to get the money from him have proven futile. He doesn’t want to pay back the money.”

Other reports from Europe allegedly captured the musician in a similar situation. It was reported he had done the same thing to other event promoters across Europe.

“Dancehall star Elephant Man is taking a beating in the German press which reports he has not shown at several reggae shows for which he was booked,” according to the Jamaican Observer.
It is also alleged retainer fees were collected on his behalf. One of the shows was the annual Chiemsee Reggae Summer Festival, one of Europe’s largest reggae shows, which takes place in the south of Germany in August.Elephant Man was advertised to perform on August 23, at the opening night of the three-day show in Uebersee near Munich. Contacted by the Jamaica Observer, Maria Perreiter, public relations officer for Chiemsee, referred to a public announcement on the show’s website which reads:

“We regret to inform you that Elephant Man will not be appearing at the Chiemsee Reggae Summer Festival 2013. After appearing on various shows in Europe, the artiste has hastily left from Brussels towards Jamaica, apparently with a six-figure amount he received in advanced payments as retainer fees from several show promoters. With this behaviour, Elephant Man has shown that he has no regard for contracts, and even worse, for his fans.”

It is also reported that Elephant Man failed to show up for a concert at The Docks in the German city of Hamburg on August 17. It is alleged he was paid a retainer fee by promoters. The promoters were, however, not available to confirm or deny these allegations.Elephant Man has had prior run-ins with German promoters. Scheduled tours to the country by the self-proclaimed ‘Energy God’ were cancelled in 2009 and 2012.
Contacted by the Observer, Elephant Man denied claims by organisers of the Chiemsee Reggae Summer Festival that he failed to show up. “I didn’t have any show in Germany on Friday, nor did I collect a deposit to perform.
I was in Europe for two weeks where I performed at several music festivals. If I was slated to perform on Friday I would not have left the continent on Thursday to return to Jamaica,” said Elephant Man. He added that he had another engagement in the United States last Friday.