Planner sues over canceled car show
An event planner is suing Los Angeles County for allegedly canceling an August car show at the Pomona Fairgrounds because entertainment featuring hip-hop DJ Funkmaster Flex was deemed “offensive,” according to court documents.
Imagine Media Group, based in Chula Vista, is alleging losses of at least $800,000 after fairground officials pulled the plug on the hip-hop car show only days before the event. The federal suit, filed in the last week, seeks damages for breach of contract and violation of civil rights.
According to the complaint, officials with the Los Angeles County Fair Assn., a nonprofit that leases the grounds from the county and manages the facilities, prohibited the hip-hop artists from performing “under the guise of unjustifiable public safety grounds.”
Imagine Media had organized previous auto events at the fairgrounds, said Raymond Buendia, the company’s attorney. The event’s celebrity host, New York DJ and car enthusiast Funkmaster Flex, appears at custom car shows nationwide. In canceling the Aug. 12 event, Buendia said, fairground managers informed Imagine that they did not want the “wrong element” on the property, referring to African American and Latino hip-hop fans.
Fairground managers “serve a public function by maintaining and operating on that public property,” Buendia said, calling the association’s decision “arbitrary and arrogant.”
Fairground officials were unfamiliar with the lawsuit when contacted Monday and could not respond to specific allegations, said Dale Coleman, vice president of sales, marketing and creative programming for the association.
However, he added, the organization is “always concerned about public safety.”
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