Burlesque star claims insurer left her exposed

A popular burlesque star was left holding the bag when she discovered that she - not her insurer - was liable for a cancelled show in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Risk Management News

By

A popular burlesque star was left holding the bag when she discovered that she - not her insurer - was liable for a cancelled show in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Popular burlesque star Dita Von Teese told a U.S. court that she was liable for the cost of a New York show cancelled in the wake of Hurricane Sandy because of her insurer's negligence – an argument that doesn’t have a leg to stand on, says one insurer.

“At some point it becomes too late to ask for insurance,” Derek Patterson, the principal of Global Risk Insurance Brokers, told InsuranceBusiness online. “In this business, you need several months to properly provide coverage. There is a lot of back and forth to properly underwrite an event. If she asked about coverage only two weeks before, there is just not enough time.”

Born Heather Sweet, Von Teese is suing Momentous Insurance Brokerage of Van Nuys and broker Connie Woodson in Superior Court for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of oral contract, negligence and misrepresentation.

Von Teese, a world-famous burlesque dancer, model and costume designer, claims that Woodson told her that nonappearance-cancelation coverage for entertainers would apply only to events she missed because of accident, illness or death. (continued.)

#pb#

The broker also allegedly told Von Teese it would take weeks to issue a policy, so the dancer opted not to take the coverage, relying on Momentous' experience providing coverage for high-profile concert tours.

Here is where the tassels stopped twirling.

On the eve of Von Teese’s first performance at the Gramercy Theater in Manhattan, Hurricane Sandy was just making landfall in New York City. According to Von Teese, “production was ready to start rehearsals and performances” when Sandy knocked out the entire power grid from 39th Street to Battery Park.

Von Teese had to cancel the New York performance of “Burlesque: Strip Strip Hooray,” and according to the complaint she lost $96,920.94, plus interest, to cover the cost of accommodating cast and crew in hotels, in addition to other expenses.

Her company, Of Corset Is, and Strip Strip Hooray (SSH), the business entity for her shows, are co-plaintiffs in the suit.

Because of the loss, Von Teese says she was “obligated to perform additional shows for Live Nation without additional advances in order to make up for the $50,000 advance Live Nation had given to SSH for the subject New York performance.” (continued.)

#pb#

Neither Woodson nor Momentous ever explained the “absolute need” to obtain a policy for nonappearance and cancellation coverage for “natural disasters, acts of God, or force majeure,” the complaint states.

Global Risk Insurance Brokers has been around providing coverage of this nature since 1941, says Patterson, and what clients need to understand is that there is no “off the shelf” policy for today’s public performances.

“There needs to be consultation, you can’t do coverage a la carte,” he says. “Yes, the client generally knows what they want, and then you build on that to factor in the cost. There are a lot of things that can trigger a policy – like a hurricane.”

Von Teese is credited with reviving and updating traditional burlesque dancing, and has been called the “queen” of the striptease dance style. She married musician Marilyn Manson in late 2005 but filed for divorce just over a year later. The couple finalized the split in January 2007.

The plaintiffs seek damages, loss of merchandise revenue, and costs, and are represented by the firm of Keith Fink with Fink & Steinberg.
 

Keep up with the latest news and events

Join our mailing list, it’s free!