Rod Wave’s Legal Battle Over $27 Million Tour Problems Escalates

In September, Rod Wave was hit with a massive $27 million lawsuit by his former concert promoter, Grizzly Touring LLC. In it, the promoter alleges that the performer has breached his contract and failed to return his advance money.

A few weeks later, Rod Wave filed a countersuit against Grizzly. He alleged that the promoter was trying to force him to work with them again despite the serious issues they encountered on his “Last Lap” tour in 2024. Moreover, he alleged that the promoter made it “logistically impossible” for him to fulfill his obligations. He asked the judge to make his contract with Grizzly null.

“Grizzly is not entitled to this improperly requested specific performance or equivalent injunctive relief, which effectively amounts to an indentured servitude,” Rod Wave’s lawyer, James Sammataro, alleged. “Defendants have lost confidence in Grizzly as their tour promoter and no longer wish to perform services for Grizzly or receive Grizzly’s services.”

“Rod Wave frequently learned only at the last minute that [they] rescheduled [a show], often only after seeing tickets for these rescheduled shows available online,” the suit also alleges. “Only 12 of the 35 scheduled [shows] occurred at the date and venue originally announced.”

Now, AllHipHop’s Grouchy Greg Watkins exclusively reports that Grizzly has filed a 36-page rebuttal in federal court. In it, they allege that Rod Wave owes at least $27 million from the tour, which they allege they fronted over $57 million for.

Grizzly blames his team for the issues that happened during the second leg of the tour, alleging that they were in charge of both stage logistics and crew operations. According to them, the artist’s camp allegedly approved a tour schedule that was ultimately “impossible to execute” because they “failed to account for larger, more expensive production needs.”