Popcaan’s Lawyer Says Dancehall Star “Infuriated”, Sharon Burke Considering Legal Options After IG Rant
Ron Young, attorney-at-law representing Dancehall star Popcaan, has issued a statement in the wake of his client accusing music insider Sharon Burke of attempting to “sabotage” the Unruly Boss’ performance at the Burna Boy concert at the National Stadium in Kingston over the weekend.
“We are taking instructions from our client. He was understandably infuriated by the technical issues at the Burna Boy concert that shortchanged the Jamaican fans he loves to perform for at the highest level. Any issues related to that will be ventilated and resolved in due course,” Young told DancehallMag.
Popcaan’s set during the Burna Boy concert was plagued by technical difficulties, and at one point, he walked off stage and complained to the sound engineers. Following the show, the organisers of the Burna Boy event which include Twisted Entertainment, Duke Concept, and Burke’s Solid Agency, apologized for the sound issues which had marred what was otherwise a great production.
When contacted, Sharon Burke, principal of Solid Agency, referred all questions to her business partner, Judith Bodley. Bodley, in turn, said that the music insider could be seeking legal redress as the company’s legal team was discussing the issue and a statement would be issued soon.
False statements of fact disseminated on social media can be considered defamation in some circumstances, or more specifically libel because they are written statements.
Interestingly, in July 2022, Popcaan had filed a defamation lawsuit against the Attorney General of Jamaica, accusing the island’s Government and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) of publishing a false and defamatory press release on its social media pages.
Noted entertainment attorney-at-law Roderick Gordon had important context when contacted for comment.
“The advent of click and post has caused a huge amount of potential defamatory content to emerge without editing or the pause before printing. Our Defamation Act has expanded the types of publication to include electronic postings including visual messages. So even a video posted as an IG story qualifies under the law of defamation, even though it’s a post which disappears in 24 hours,” Gordon told DancehallMag.
On the specific issue of the Popcaan post, Gordon had this to say:
“It is highly charged and very close to the performance where the sound production was less than world-class. It is interesting though, that the prevailing assumption is that the comment is about that and that alone.”
Asked why there were not many defamation lawsuits issued against local bloggers and YouTubers, Gordon said: “That’s a good question, I believe it is a lack of understanding of the fact that it is actionable and there are immediate remedies that have evolved in the common law as well as in the community rules and guidelines of most of these platforms.”
The limitation on defamation for anything published on the Internet is two years.
Gordon recently sat on a panel with an Associate General Counsel of Meta at the Tech Beach Retreat held in Montego Bay Dec 8-10.