*Kimberly Williams is a Chicago-based event promoter turned newbie concert promoter who has legitimate beef with “Dreamgirls” singer Jennifer Holliday.
Williams has alleged that Holliday refused to return a $2,000 deposit to her when Holliday pulled out of a concert she allegedly agreed to perform at in the Windy City in July 2018.
Williams told the EUR in a phone interview that the new venture started out as a labor of love before things turned sour. (Please note: EUR reached out to Jennifer Holliday regarding the accusation, but did not receive a response by press time).
“I decided because I always loved the entertainment business that I would give it a try and do concerts,” Williams told EURweb’s Lee Bailey. “I planned and had a successful concert in December 2017 and said I would move forward and get different artists, especially artists I look up to, admire, and love – with one of them being Jennifer Holliday.”
“So I reached out to her,” Wiliams continued. “I sent her the first contact through Instagram and she wasn’t available for the concert I was going to do in April. So, I let her know that I have another date, July 28, and she was available. She agreed to do the concert and we discussed the deposit.”
Since Williams wanted to start promoting the performance immediately at an upcoming black expo, according to Williams, Holliday wanted a deposit of $2,000 before any type of publicity began. Williams immediately obliged and thought things were set.
Williams started moving full speed ahead in posting the event on social media and knocking out opening acts. However, things started to turn shortly afterward and in early May, Holliday backed out.
“What is really going is that she decided to cancel the concert for what reason I cannot tell you. I do not know why she will not return my deposit.”
According to communications between Williams and Holliday that Williams provided to the EUR, Holliday never explicitly said why she reneged on the concert. However, the “And I Am Telling You” powerhouse had a variety of issues with Williams. Some of the concerns included Williams being a fresh face in concert promoting, to booking opening acts that Holliday did not approve of, and to publicizing the event on social media before final approval from the singer. Whatever the reason(s), Williams is fed up.
“I sent her a series of emails saying, ‘Hey listen give me my money back. Since you decided to cancel, return the deposit,’” Williams told EUR. “She cancelled on May 5th and we actually booked everything on April 5th. She never replied. My last email was, ‘If you don’t respond to me I am going to do whatever I need to do to try to retrieve my funds and to make sure that you don’t do this to anyone else, if you haven’t already.’ She didn’t reply.”
Continuously ignored by Holliday, according to Williams, the promoter revved up her tactics.
“I looked up and saw upcoming events that she would be performing at and sent emails to the people who were hosting those events,” Williams said. “I only told the truth. I told them I think that you should know that Jennifer Holliday decided to cancel an event and she is refusing to return my deposit. I sent emails to several events that she would be performing at because again I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
Williams, added: “I filed a complaint with the better Business Bureau and she (Holliday) responded that I was being unprofessional and that she thinks we have to have this out in front of a lawyer. But I’m not being unprofessional, ‘you’re the one trying to keep my money.’ She even had her attorney email me to stop contacting her because (she hasn’t) returned my money.”
While the Better Business Bureau marked the case “closed” and “unresolved,” Kimberly Williams is not backing down. For more on Williams’, check out her Instagram here. Meanwhile, we’ll will keep you posted on any updates, especially if Jennifer Holliday and/or her representative respond.
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