TED NUGENT's Attorney: 'There Was A Contract'

March 24, 2005

John S. Hausman of The Grand Rapids Press has issued the following report:

Get it in writing ... unless you are in the concert-booking business.

There, your word is your bond — or so testified a veteran entertainment-industry lawyer, who represents Ted Nugent among others, at the jury trial of Nugent's breach-of-contract lawsuit against Muskegon Summer Celebration for cancelling his scheduled June 30, 2003, show.

One of the festival's main defenses is that the two sides had no signed contract at the time of the cancellation, which came nearly two weeks after the concert was announced and tickets went on sale.

But signed contracts are highly unusual in the concert industry, making the defense meaningless, said Nugent's longtime business lawyer Mike Novak, testifying Wednesday for Nugent's side as an expert witness.

"Oral contracts ... are the industry norm," Novak testified.

Festival officials killed the show May 15, 2003, after controversy erupted over news reports that Nugent had allegedly used racial slurs during a radio interview in Denver. The cancellation came one day before the festival's sale of 11-day passes for the Summer Celebration, which required a final lineup to be in place. Nugent was replaced at the last minute by '80s rock star Pat Benatar.

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