The city of Durham, North Carolina dropped a hefty $37,000 on something mysterious, but one thing’s for sure – it wasn’t on the talented R&B songstress Monica Denise Arnold.
CYNDI B.
Last Friday night, chaos erupted on social media when Monica revealed to her fans that she wouldn’t be gracing the stage at the 54th Annual Bimbe Cultural Arts Festival, all because the city of Durham failed to reach out or secure a contract with her.
As the backlash against Durham intensified, they tried to shift the blame by claiming Monica’s social media accounts were hacked. But Monica set the record straight, slamming the city for falsely promoting her appearance when she had never agreed to it.
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Amidst this social media spectacle involving a city struggling with budget issues and crime, Mayor Leonardo Williams even accused Monica of having two representatives in a video he made as he was deplaning a flight.
“The city of Durham is working with the representative for [her] team which we have a contract with, “Mayor Williams said in the video.
Mayor Williams confidently stated that just as he was about to board his flight before returning back to Durham, he received confirmation that Monica was on her way to grace the stage at the vibrant Bimbe Cultural Arts Festival.
“Again right before taking off we recieved confirmation that she would be coming tomorrow,” Mayor Williams said.
The Mayor admitted that the whole ordeal was a real head-scratcher, but instead of rolling up his sleeves and diving into the mystery himself, he simply trusted his team’s assurances, which unfortunately ended up being a total flop.
Who did the City of Durham, North Carolina, pay for Monica to perform at the Bimbe Cultural Arts Festival?
As per ABC11 I-Team’s investigation, they uncovered paperwork revealing that Durham shelled out $45,000 to the vendor responsible for securing headliners for the Bimbé Cultural Arts Festival. However, the recipient of the funds from the vendor, who allegedly identified as Monica, remains a mystery.
In a social media post, Monica claimed she was never approached or hired to perform at the festival. Despite this, Durham reportedly allocated a significant portion of the $45,000, around $37,000, to Chris Weeks for booking the singer.
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Chris Weeks assured ABC 11 I-Team that Durham would have their $37,000 refunded by tomorrow, although he didn’t disclose the recipient of the money, which he believed was Monica’s team. He explained that the mix-up occurred between Monica’s booking agent and Monica herself, emphasizing that he and Durham were in sync and followed the same procedures as in previous years.
According to the contract obtained by the news outlet, a first payment of $20,000 was made, followed by two additional payments of $8,500 each in March and April. These payments were directed to the vendor responsible for booking Monica for the festival.
After Monica’s show, an additional $8,000 was expected to be handed over.
The ABC 11 I-Team discovered a twist in the original agreement. The contract initially featured both “Amerie” and “Monica” as headliners, with a clause stating that Durham city officials would receive a refund if the artist failed to perform. But a contract amendment scrapped Amerie from the deal, leaving only Monica on the contract.
Durham City Hall confirmed that Monica’s performance at the festival was confirmed by the booking agent on January 19 and February 9 but on Saturday, May 18, Monica was in Baltimore, Maryland, preparing to hit the stage with Jeezy later that night.Â
That is what the city of Durham get you can’t pay your teachers but given money to scammers .