Soca Star Alison Hinds, Reynolds Entertainment Agency In Hot Water Over Cayman Fiesta Non-Appearance

Reynolds Entertainment Agency, one of the principal organisers of Cayman Fiesta in the Cayman Islands, has refuted allegations of ‘unprofessionalism and disrespect’ made by soca star Alison Hinds in the wake of the three-day party weekend.

“On the Saturday night which was all soca artist we got a 150 patrons, so I approached all the artistes and explained to them that the venue was empty and I was willing to pay 50% of the balance that was outstanding and they said no,” Tameka Reynolds, head of Reynolds Entertainment Agency, said.

Soca artist Lady Lava was the only artist who performed on the soca night of the party weekend.

“I had a 45 minute conversation with Alison Hinds on the day of the show after which she agreed that she wasn’t going to post anything and that I would pay her outstanding balance by the end of the month, so I was surprised that she posted lies, half-truths and innuendo to slander the name and brand of Reynolds Entertainment Agency,” Ms. Reynolds said.

Reynolds Entertainment Agency, which is very influential in the processing of work permits for artistes and industry professionals, functions as a booking agency that works with top tier talent in dancehall and reggae.

“I believe it is instructive  that she can post a slander and lie but she never once posted a flyer of the Cayman Fiesta show. Mrs. Hinds refused to do the two radio interviews that would have helped promote the event, the first excuse for one interview was that she had a nail appointment. That was one instance of unprofessionalism and the other excuse was that “she had plans”. What plans? She got a paid deposit in full yet she didn’t post a flyer, no radio station interview…that was unprofessional and unfair, and factual,” Ms. Reynolds continued.

The Cayman Fiesta is a three-day event and the series of shows took place between November 7 to 9th and also featured a night headlined by rap star Rick Ross that attracted 1500 people, the day before the ill-fated soca event.

In a post released via her Instagram account, the soca queen Alison Hinds attempted to clear her name and brand wasn’t damaged by her non-appearance at the Cayman Fiesta event.

“I want to let the people of Cayman know I was there and ready but because of the unprofessionalism, the disorganisation and disrespect of said company, Reynolds Entertainment, I was not able to perform,” Hinds said. 

“They did not take care of business beforehand,” she added.

The soca queen alleged that there was a breach of contract.
“My contract states very carefully that business has to be taken care of before I take the stage, at any event, no matter what it is. This promoter saw it fit to disrespect the artiste and not do what they were supposed to do, so I wasn’t able to perform as I wanted to perform, so Cayman, I apologise for not being able to be on the stage for that event,” Hinds said.

However, Ms. Reynolds rubbished Hinds’ version of events.

“No one else on the Cayman Fiesta soca night chose to slander a reputable agency. At no point did the agency fail to meet its obligations, discussions were made with all the performers.   In the business world, things happen and compromises have to be made, the artistes, promoters and event planners must always strive to satisfy fans. We tried to satisfy fans and make arrangements to make up for shortfalls that may happen in the course of normal business transactions,” Reynolds explained.
” We were committed to pay but Mrs. Hinds had damaged her own brand by failing to perform, and attempted to damage my brand with her lies and slanderous comments,” Ms. Reynolds added.  

Ms. Reynolds shot down the allegations that the airline tickets were not paid for by her agency.

“That allegation is a lie,” Reynolds said. “The airline cancelled the tickets and put them up in Pegasus and that had nothing to do with Reynolds Entertainment Agency.”

Ms. Reynolds said that a mishap occurred as it related to the reservations for the AC hotel.

“The AC hotel front desk had the company credit card but couldn’t reach me to authorize use of the card as I was at another event. Ms. Hinds was given the option to pay for the rooms. Under normal circumstances, I would have been more than willing to reimburse her,” she explained.  

“Why would your name be at the hotel if it wasn’t paid for? Make it make sense, it’s the same hotel that she stayed in two days ago. A misunderstanding happened and you had to pay for the hotel. We were cordial all through these things. My driver even ensured that she got back to the airport to catch the flight so why tell half the story?” Reynolds asked.