European touring group denies 'fictitious' concerts claims in rapper Polo G's lawsuit
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Rapper Polo G is taking legal action against a European touring agency for allegedly using his name, image and brand to promote numerous "fictitious" concerts.
The 24-year-old "Rapstar" musician accused the Netherlands-based booking agency J. Noah of "false advertisements, trademark infringement" in a lawsuit filed Monday in New York federal court. The rapper, whose given name is Taurus Bartlett, alleged J. Noah and its owner Jozef Wanno "falsely [asserted]" that he would perform at a number of venues across Europe during November 2023 and "knew these performances would not occur."
Simon J. Rosen, an attorney for J. Noah, shared a statement on Thursday with The Times denying the rapper's allegations.
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"J. Noah is an honest, Dutch musical booking and touring agency, committed to promoting beautiful, extravagant musical spectacles for the past 22 years," the statement reads. "Our company has been nothing but supportive of Polo G throughout his career, and is optimistic that we shall continue to do so into the future. To the extent someone filed a lawsuit on behalf of Polo G against J. Noah ... we can confidently state that J. Noah [categorically] denies any wrongdoing on our behalf involving Polo G. J. Noah shall be completely vindicated, albeit in an appropriate European and/or American Court."
A legal representative for Bartlett did not comment.
The 36-page complaint said the agency and a representative for Bartlett signed a contract in August 2023 agreeing that the rapper would perform 10 concerts in November. After J. Noah allegedly breached several terms of the alleged contract, Bartlett's team terminated the agreement and informed the agency that the rapper would not perform, the lawsuit said.
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Despite this, the suit alleges that J. Noah has featured and continues to feature photos of Bartlett and "the Polo G mark" — a federally registered trademark as of November 2020 — on its website and social media pages. As of Thursday afternoon, the J. Noah Instagram page still had several posts advertising November performances by Polo G. According to J. Noah's page, the rapper was set to perform in Hamburg, Milan and Prague, among other major European cities.
The suit said J. Noah has failed to remove "unauthorized" images of Bartlett and mention of his name from its website and social media pages despite the rapper's counsel's request. J. Noah has allegedly damaged, and continues to damage, Bartlett's "reputation with the live music industry, and his relationship with the public."
Bartlett is seeking an unspecified amount in damages including attorney's fees and the defendants' profits from alleged "unlawful conduct." He also demanded a trial by jury.
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The Chicago-raised rapper rose to popularity in recent years after the 2019 release of his debut album "Die a Legend," which went double platinum. His albums also include "The Goat," "Hall of Fame" and "Hall of Fame 2.0."
In August, Bartlett announced the release of his fourth album, “H.O.O.D P.O.E.T." The rapper reportedly announced the delay of his album in September, following his arrest near the end of August.
"Honestly after my hood poet album I’m considering retiring from music...so I appreciate everybody ridin for me 10 fold," Bartlett tweeted on Aug. 17
He continued in a second tweet: "This rap s— got so lame and watered down it ain’t no fun in it no more."
Times researcher Scott Wilson and staff writer Jonah Valdez contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
