From an infamous concert in San Jose on Nov. 17 to a visit to Trump Tower a few weeks later, Kanye West
had observers buzzing about his behavior last year. Even though he was
hospitalized at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital Center around
Thanksgiving, few knew the full extent of what West endured in the
aftermath of a psychological breakdown.
Now The Hollywood Reporter has obtained an explosive new $10 million lawsuit that details an extensive medical examination of the music star.
West
is suing various syndicates of insurer Lloyd's of London, alleging they
are stalling on paying out claims emanating from a canceled tour. A
loss claim was tendered just two days after West checked himself into a
psychiatric center, but he and his company -- Very Good Touring, Inc. --
still have not been paid more than eight months later, according to the
suit.
"Nor have they provided anything approaching a coherent
explanation about why they have not paid, or any indication if they will
ever pay or even make a coverage decision, implying that Kanye’s use of
marijuana may provide them with a basis to deny the claim and retain
the hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums paid by Very
Good," states a complaint filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior
Court. "The stalling is emblematic of a broader modus operandi of the insurers of never-ending post-claim underwriting where the insurers hunt for some contrived excuse not to pay."
West originally planned a Saint Pablo Tour consisting of
38 events between Aug. 12 and Nov. 2. His managers reached out to
Lloyd's to get "peace of mind" in case cancellations needed to
occur. The star made most of the dates but was forced to cancel two
concerts when his wife, Kim Kardashian, was robbed at gunpoint in Paris
on Oct. 2. (Indeed, he famously walked offstage when he learned of the incident.)
Thanks
to the success of the tour, though, additional dates were arranged. The
second performance during this leg of the tour is where everything
started to fall apart.
In San Jose, West told the crowd, "I said
something that was politically incorrect. I told you I didn't vote, but
if I were to have voted, I would have voted for Trump."
He was booed.
Two
days later, West appeared for a concert in Sacramento and launched a
15-minute tirade about various public figures, including Beyoncé
("I was hurt ‘cause I heard that you said you wouldn’t perform unless
you won Video of the Year over me"), JAY-Z ("I know you got killers.
Please don’t send them at my head") and Hillary Clinton ("This Saint
Pablo tour is the most relevant [thing] happening. If your old ass keeps
following old models, you’ll be Hillary Clinton").
West's lawsuit
addresses this latter concert and notes the "strained, confused and
erratic" behavior in Sacramento, as well as the decision made the
following day to cancel the balance of the tour and issue full refunds.
He was soon hospitalized at UCLA, and the insurance companies were
informed and later provided with sworn testimony from his primary
physician there that West suffered a debilitating medical condition that
required he not tour.
