Neha Kakkar 'lied', 'refused' to perform for small crowd in Melbourne, claim event planners: 'Only 700 people? I won't...'

In March this year, singer Neha Kakkar faced major backlash after a concert in Melbourne took an unexpected turn. She turned up three hours late, broke down during her performance, and later claimed she had been scammed by the organisers and never paid for the show.

However, the controversy took a new twist when two Australian event planners stepped forward, accusing Neha of not telling the truth. According to them, she was paid as promised but chose not to perform after seeing that only around 700 people had turned up at the venue.

In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Australian rapper and event host Pace D claimed, "I spoke to the organiser and learned that she didn’t show up on time and there were several delays. He said she kept making statements like, ‘I won’t go now, I won’t do this’."

Pace D further revealed that Neha Kakkar looked at the audience and told the organisers, "Only 700 people? I won’t perform until the venue fills up," which led to more delays in the event. Pace D and Bikram Singh Randhawa responded to Neha Kakkar's accusations, denying the claims that the event organisers failed to provide her with basic amenities like a hotel, food, and water. They also refuted her allegation that they had "run away" with her money, calling her version of events untrue.

The stated, "Where was she staying if there was no hotel? She was traveling in a G Wagon. Even before the artiste flies to Australia, they are fully paid. 100 percent, she was paid in advance, this is something very basic in Australia."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Neha Kakkar (@nehakakkar)

Meanwhile, Neha penned a lengthy note, explaining her side of the story. She claimed that she faced a harrowing experience with the organisers as they “ran away with her money.”

“They said she came 3 hrs late, did they even ask once what happened to her, what did they do to her and her band? When I spoke on stage, I didn’t even tell anyone what happened to us coz I didn’t want anyone to get harmed. Who am I to punish anyone, but now that it’s come in my name, I had to speak up. So here it is,” Neha wrote.

She added, “Do you all know that I performed absolutely Free for my Melbourne audience? The organisers ran away with my money and others too. My band was not even given food, hotel, and even water. My husband and his boys went and provided them with food. In spite of all this, we still went on stage and did the show without any rest or anything because my fans were waiting for hrs for me there.”

She elaborated that her sound check for the concert also got delayed for hours.

Neha added, “Do you know our sound check got delayed by hrs coz the sound vendor was not paid and he refused to put the sound on? And when, after so much delay, our sound check started, I could not reach the venue, couldn’t do the sound check, we did not even know if the concert is happening coz the organisers stopped picking up my manager’s calls coz apparently they were running away from the sponsors n everyone. Though there’s still a lot to share but I guess this is enough…”

She also thanked her fans for supporting her and understanding her situation.

“Want to thank all those people who spoke so beautifully for me, as if all this happened to them personally. I really appreciate all the efforts they all took to clarify my situation. I’m always gonna be thankful to all of them who attended my concert that day and cried with me and even danced their hearts out. I can’t thank my NeHearts enough for always standing up for me and everyone who supported me and gave me only Love. Thank you,” she posted.

Earlier, Neha’s brother Tony Kakkar shared a statement on Instagram, suggesting that the delay was due to mismanagement by the event organisers.

(With inputs from ANI)