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The organizers of Woodstock 50 have filed suit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against Dentsu, a Japanese firm that had agreed to finance the doomed festival scheduled for August 2019 but officially canceled in July, Variety reports. The festival alleges that Dentsu Group, Dentsu Aegis Network, and MKTG conspired with Dentsu affiliate Amplifi to instigate the breach of its contract with the festival, accusing them of “absconding” with millions of dollars and “attacking” the festival in the press in an attempt to “kill the festival.”
The suit comes as Woodstock 50’s organizers are concurrently embroiled in contractually obligated arbitration with Dentsu; the plaintiffs claim that Dentsu’s “sabotage” was effective, and the harms inflicted by the defendants entitle them to “tens of millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages” not covered by the two-party arbitration hearings. When Dentsu pulled out of the festival in April 2019, they claimed it was canceled. Woodstock organizers disputed the cancellation, and took Dentsu to to court over $17.8 million they removed from a festival bank account. In court hearings, Dentsu’s team said they stopped working on Woodstock because organizers didn’t have a mass gathering permit, a finalized traffic plan, necessary road construction, an emergency response plan, or sufficient security.
In May, the judge ruled that the event contract did not permit Dentsu to cancel the event, but allowed them to keep the $17.8 million. After finding—and losing—new investors, finding—and losing—a new venue, being denied a permit, moving the festival to Maryland, making tickets free, and losing several marquee headliners, the festival was officially canceled on July 31.
Check out “Why Woodstock 50 Was Canceled,” a timeline of the events that led to the cancellation of the 50th anniversary music festival.