Eminem Ordered To Explain Concert Cancellation For Irish Court

[Damien J.]

An Irish High Court has asked Eminem to testify about why he canceled a sold-out show he was scheduled to play at Slane Castle in 2005. According to the Belfast Telegraph, a High Court judge issued an order on Wednesday requesting that the rapper explain the circumstances surrounding the cancellation under oath. The judge called Eminem's testimony a "possibly crucial" part of a civil action in which concert promoter MCD is seeking $2 million from three London-based insurance companies that refused to pay up after Eminem pulled out of the show.

The 80,000 tickets for the September 17, 2005 open-air concert — part of the European leg of the rapper's Anger Management 3 Tour — had sold out in an hour. But just weeks before it was to take place, Eminem pulled out of the gig, citing exhaustion. Shortly thereafter it was announced that he had checked into a rehab facility seeking help for an addiction to prescription sleeping medication.

Eminem canceled the entire 10-date European run of the Anger Management 3 tour, initially chalking it up to what his publicists called "exhaustion, complicated by other medical issues." The dates were not rescheduled.

Irish authorities have asked Em to give evidence to a judge in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, according to the Telegraph. That testimony can then be used in the Irish lawsuit and read in the Dublin court.

The rapper's representatives reportedly requested that he be allowed to give testimony in private about the state of his health at the time of the cancellation and that evidence be kept private when it is raised in the Irish courtroom as well. But Irish Justice Peter Kelly denied that request, saying there was a constitutional mandate that justice be administered in public. The only guarantee the court was willing to give was that Eminem's testimony would be kept confidential until it was put into evidence.

In its suit, MCD claims that it had a contract with the three insurance companies — Liberty Syndicate Management Ltd, Brit Insurance Ltd and Markel International Ltd. — under which they agreed to cover MCD up to $2 million should the concert have to be canceled or relocated.

This report is provided by MTV News (MTV.com)