The AEI Speakers Bureau is suing Jesse Jackson for $100,000 after he failed to show up for a speech they booked him for back in November 2007. Jackson charged $75,000 and required a chartered private jet to travel to the speech in Trinidad. The suit, filed in Chicago where Jackson lives, claims that Jackson signed an agreement to speak but then backed out.
AEI now wants Jackson to pay them $63,932 for the commission they lost and $36,068 for the money they’re out after arranging for his chartered private jet.
Jackson was supposed to address a November 2007 political rally for the United National Congress. The suit alleges that, after agreeing to speak, Jackson “cited a desire to avoid the perception of showing favoritism to a Trinidad and Tobago political party as his reason for not fulfilling his contractual duties.”
The agreement (which can be found at www.thesmokinggun.com) doesn’t read like a formal contract for sure. It looks like more of a memorandum with the pertinent terms outlined. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be upheld. It will be interesting to see what Jackson’s response to the suit is.
