Promoters are pointing fingers at Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am for allegedly failing to show up at the Réveillon New Year's event in Brazil, but the performer is claiming that he and the event never settled contractual negotiations before the event.
The event-one of the biggest in Rio de Janeiro throughout the year-claimed that the performer had cancelled at the last moment, whereas will.i.am's manager Polo Molina stated that his client had never agreed to be part of the festivities.
Molina confirmed that will.i.am had in fact been invited to perform at the event, and that the performer's team had entered discussions to negotiate his performance. The promoter of the event let the team know that the concert would be televised, which led the performer's reps to request that "certain staging elements" be added with regard to the broadcast. Molina said that the additional requests were not accommodated, an as such will.i.am never agreed to perform. Molina added that the promoters discussed the ongoing negotiations without getting consent from will.i.am's team, which may have led fans to falsely believe that the performer would be making an appearance.
Will.i.am offered an apology to his confused fans, if not to the promoters.
"Will.i.am apologises to his fans for confusion caused as the result of the unauthorized and premature external discussion of his involvement" he said in a statement.
The Copacabana Réveillon site doesn't indicate, as of January 1, that will.i.am was part of the lineup.
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