How to cancel Coachella...and get away with it
Thursday Thoughts
Here’s what I think Frank Ocean’s twice broken leg (and sprained ankle) really has to do with his Coachella exit.
Frank Ocean didn’t want to perform at Coachella.
Eighteen-months ago was a different time and space for all of us. Maybe the offer was so lucrative he temporarily stepped outside of his senses. But, then I assume reality hit, and creative work hit, and production hit, and set fabrication hit, and time hit, and, even though he tried, it just wasn’t coming together. Or, maybe after all that, the vibe, or the scale, or the fandom, or the comfort level was still…off.
But we at least know he tried.
We know he held auditions.
We know he had an elaborate set.
We know he rehearsed and sound-checked (per Tiktok).
We heard there were same day changes.
That was the first story messaged out to us: “Production issues.”
I say the “first” story because these things sometimes evolve a bit before lawyers and publicists can get a position in order for a unified statement.
It took a couple days for Team Frank to get specific. And, as of yesterday, Wednesday April 19, 2023, at 2:48 PM PST, we’re going with his leg is double broke and his ankle is single sprained.
The statement reads: “Frank Ocean will not be performing at weekend 2 of Coachella.
“After suffering an injury to his leg on festival grounds in the week leading up to weekend 1. Frank Ocean was unable to perform the intended show but was still intent on performing, and in 72 hours, the show was reworked out of necessity.
“On doctor’s advice, [Ocean] is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.”
So, I’m not a doctor… I’m a woman on TikTok.
I haven’t seen his x-rays, but he didn’t seem to be remotely injured in the clips I’ve seen of him dancing around on stage in hotel slippers. The foot injury, if true, also doesn’t explain why he chose to not sing a handful of songs.
Honestly, I never knew Frank to be a dancer anyway. So, even with an ankle injury, one that happened 72 hours prior to his performance (which is enough time for a doctor to sling, wrap, cast, or otherwise stabilize the injury), he could’ve sat in a chair on stage and still somehow delivered something less confusing than what we saw on Sunday anyway.
Announcing the injury may have also helped.
Unrelated, of course, but…
Here’s SZA on crutches after an ankle injury and definitely not BBL surgery.
Here’s Billie Eyelash who toured through a major ankle injury.
Here’s Jessie J in a very Mondrian LA chair doing the best with what she’s got.
Here’s Travis Barker, current broken finger owner, who’ll now be drumming with his band Blink 182 in Frank’s former headlining spot this weekend.
Here’s Michael Jackson performing ‘Remember the Time’ in a gilded chair, surrounded by a full stage production, and doing arm-only choreography, due to sprained ankle.
Here’s Dave Grohl performing in a chair after he broke his leg during a show.
And lastly, you have Rihanna, suffering through the most blessed medical condition of all time, to give us the most iconic Super Bowl performance of all time (argue with someone else).
So, for whole tours or for one-off very important performances, artists have found solutions.
But, they are not Frank.
The “F” in Frank, in the dictionary of my mind, stands for finesse.
Frank Ocean fans expect nothing short of greatness, but are most times just simply fine with nothing. Frank is a reclusive, and maybe toxic, figure in their lives. One who goes on vacations in lieu of tours and who reappears every five years threatening to participate in culture, to provide them with songs or art or $25,000 cockrings, before quickly dropping a ‘lolol jk’ into the group chat of their lives and disappearing back into life as a hermit dandy.
I think it’s endearing and part of his charm, but I also don’t give him my money.
Back to Coachella.
Here’s where things get important.
Frank is exiting Coachella on a medical out.
Coachella is insured.
Frank is insured.
Not like Aetna and Blue Cross insured, but like large multi-million dollar insurance and liability policies that provide exits and rules and coverages and contingencies for whatever may happen in the event that an artist can’t perform.
The contracts between the two also have Exit/Cancellation Clauses that define the penalties for cancelling. There’s most likely a sliding scale of penalties that have to be reconciled.
If you cancel one year out, penalties are XYZ.
If you cancel one month out, penalties are XYZ.
If you cancel one day out, penalties are XYZ.
Not just so Coachella can recoup money (e.g. payment to artist, production investment, lost ticket sales, etc.), but also secure replacement headliners.
And, if parties (Ocean v. Coachella) are disputing something in the contract, then you get things like lawsuits.
Anyway, back to insurance. Forced Majure (french for ‘superior force’ and also known as “Act of God”), Terrorism Policies, and medical are most times the only non-penalized ways for one to exit their obligations.
In those cases, the penalties incurred are typically covered by insurance, which would pay out penalties, or other losses, to the talent or promoter or whoever has submitted claims.
Think of it like a diamond and platinum level workers comp. If you are injured and unable to perform, you can claim loss of income and basically still get paid.**
However, these large insurers and brokerages can be just as sus as Geico, and will depose the hell out of you, your doctors, your friends, subpoena medical records, interview and investigate whoever and whatever they can to find any excuse, or gray-area, to deny or not pay out your claim.
Because no one, I repeat no one, wants to write $20 million checks.
This happened to Kanye West vs. his insurer Lloyds of London to the tune of almost $10 million dollars. When Kanye cancelled his Saint Pablo Tour in 2017 due to his mental health (“medical”), Lloyds tried to deny claims — which would pay Kanye and the promoters for lost money — by citing exemptions for Kanye’s drug use. Contentious! And they both had eventually had to settle!
AEG, the parent company of Coachella, was the promoter for Michael Jackson's This is It Tour at the time of his death. Following his pre-tour passing, AEG attempted to file a $17.5M claim against Michael Jackson via Lloyds. They lost. Lloyds even disputed claims with Michaels estate/family. AEG also ended up suing Michael’s mother.
Lloyds was also sued by Foo Fighters for not paying out two cancellation claims — one for shows cancelled due to Dave’s broken leg and another for European shows cancelled after the 2015 Bataclan terrorist attack in Paris.
So, Coachella (aka AEG) is no stranger to this and will probably/most likely be pursuing some sort of recovery via Frank and ultimately his insurers.
But…
There is something slightly different about Frank’s case…
Let’s revisit the statement.
Did you catch that?
Those three little words?
On festival grounds.
Let’s see how this plays out.