Big Apple Circus cans clowns, won't pay after canceled tour: lawsuit
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They aren’t clowning around.
A trio of circus performers wants a hefty payout after the Big Apple Circus canceled a tour on short notice.
Clowns and Adam Kuchler, along with fire-eater-turned-ringmaster Stephanie Monseu, claim they were forced to turn down other gigs when they signed contracts to perform with Big Apple on a tour that was set to start in June and run through Jan. 5, 2020.
But Big Apple Circus, whose big top was kept afloat after a 2016 bankruptcy filing when a new owner swooped in to save it, canceled the tour just five days before it was set to begin, the performers charge in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
The circus has allegedly refused to pay the entertainers, who said they are each due $200,000 for being forced to miss 20 weeks worth of work.
Low ticket sales were blamed for the tour’s cancellation.
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