Producers
who brought Canadian pop singer to Israel demand ministry pay them back for
costs of touristic part of visit
Five months
have passed since Justin Bieber's concert in Tel Aviv, but the Canadian pop
singer's producers in Israel are now demanding that the Tourism Ministry pay
them back for the costs of the touristic part of the visit.
Bieber's
visit to Israel was initiated by a private production company, led by producers
Marcel Avram and Gad Oron, and Attorney Hagai Strohweiss. Before the concert,
however, Bieber toured Israel as a guest of the Tourism Ministry. The show's
producers claimed Wednesday that the costs of the tour were paid by the
production company, which would like its money back now.
According
to the claims, the visit included four tour days, costing $6,000 a day. This
sum includes the singer's security expenses and transportation services.
"The
Tourism Ministry used the security and transportation services we financed for
Bieber, so that he could tour the country for PR purposes," the production
company claims.
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| Bieber and security guards in Jerusalem (Photo: Eli Mandelabum) |
The affair,
according to producer Gad Oron, began about a month and a half before Bieber's
arrival. "The Tourism Ministry approached us and asked to be part of
Bieber's visit to Israel, in order to promote the Dead Sea as one of the
New7Wonders of Nature and have Bieber pose for a photos with the tourism
minister there," says Oron.
"We
agreed, as it was clear that they would take part in the costs too, but since
then and until Bieber landed in Israel, we didn't hear from them. The morning
after he landed, we saw Tourism Ministry representatives at the hotel trying to
take him on a tour.
"The
bodyguards I hired told me that Tourism Ministry officials wanted to go on a
tour with Bieber, and asked me whether they should accompany him on the
tour," Oron said, adding that he responded: "Escort him as needed,
and we'll take care of everything."
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| Bieber arrives at the Sea Galilee (Photo: Yariv Katz) |
After the
tours, he turned to the Tourism Ministry and asked to get his money back.
"They ignored me," the producer said. "Later, I received a rude
and impolite answer, so I decided to drop it."
'Ministry's
interference damaged State's image'
Another
member of the production team added, "When the meeting between Justin
Bieber and the prime minister was supposedly canceled, the Tourism Ministry
turned to us to help solve the crisis. They asked us to talk to Bieber's side
and get them to let go of the matter.
"After
the whole tour affair, we made great efforts to keep it quiet, so it's a shame
that the Tourism Ministry is engaging in trivial things.
"The
Tourism Ministry's interference in Bieber's visit to Israel only damaged the
State's image."
A Tourism
Ministry official strongly denied the claims, telling Ynet that the ministry
"was not linked and is not linked to the producers of Justin Bieber's show
in any agreement or commitment, and they were not a party in the Tourism
Ministry's talks upon the singer's arrival in Israel.
"The
Tourism Ministry hosts thousands of opinion formers, including first-class
celebrities, and our contact with them is held directly and without any
connection to the reason of their visit or their other activities in Israel.
"In
this case too, the ministry held direct talks with the artist's team, to the
satisfaction of both sides. The producers of Justin Bieber's show were not a
party to these talks."
Attorney
Hagai Strohweiss, a member of the Bieber production team in Israel, said in
response: "If we were not a party in this affair and the Tourism Ministry
used the cars we rented and bodyguards we hired, we would like them to give us
back the money."
Source: YNetNews
