Fans of rapper Lil Wayne were left bitterly disappointed last month when a concert of his in South Carolina ended with the rapper not showing up on stage as scheduled. As we reported, Weezy skipped out on said show because he refused to pass through a security check. In a statement after the fact, managers of the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC confirmed that Lil Wayne refused to enter the building after security personnel attempted to have him undergo “the venue’s standard safety procedures.”
No exceptions were supposedly made for Wayne or any of his entourage, with the fear of a slip-up that could “ jeopardize safety” for those in attendance. It's not the best thing that the emcee could've done, but after the incident had made its way in and out of the news cycle, fans of his certainly expected to at least get their ticket money refunded. However, according to a new report from The Post and Courier, those who paid to get in won't be receiving any money for their troubles in the short term.
A judge in Columbia temporarily put a stop to any refunds last Friday after a lawsuit was filed on Thursday by the Columbia-based promoters of the Fall Ball concert that saw Lil Wayne reneg on his appearance at the event. Lil Wayne himself has been named in the lawsuit, under his legal name Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. A hearing will take place later this week.
As per concert promoters Dennis Taylor and Victory Parnell, Colonial Life Arena "does not require metal detectors at concerts." However, Colonial Life Arena officials stated that, for the show that went down on September 30th, they intended "for all performers to go through security." The language in the lawsuit goes even further, suggesting that arena officials went through with the unusual security checks "because the event involved hip-hop artists and likely would result in a largely minority audience." Apparently, those working security at the venue were asked to let Weezy skip that step in the entrance process, due to his "objecting to the indignity of the metal detection process being conducted in public view." No special arrangement was solidified by both parties, which resulted in Wayne leaving the premises.
In the aftermath of this debacle, Colonial Life Arena announced that refunds would be offered, even though promoters objected to this. The other artists listed on the bill (2 Chainz, Tory Lanez and Cardi B) performed as scheduled after completing security checks. All for One is putting the blame on the arena of creating a "firestorm of dissatisfaction and confusion" that led to the absence of Lil Wayne from the show.
