Carmen event organiser may be headed for court

Posted in: New Zealand Daily News
By GayNZ.com Daily News staff - 19th October 2009

10.30PM: Drag entertainer Amanda La Whore says she'll take the organiser of the increasingly controversial Carmen's birthday fundraiser event to court over a breach of contract claim.

Public

Tranny legend Carmen Rupe

frustration is continuing to mount over A Night Of Glamour in Wellington which saw the ailing and elderly tranny legend Carmen flown in from Sydney by event organiser Jevan Goulter, only to leave with less than $500 dollars from the door and ticket take, much less that she or her supporters say they were led to believe would be generated.

La Whore, who was drag queen hostess for the night, says she spoke to her lawyer today and "I am taking Jevan to Civil Court for breach of contract." She says Goulter promised her a $350 fee for hosting the night "which I would have been happy to give to Carmen as a birthday gift, but I received nothing. It's not the money, it's the principle, and I want to make sure no-one else has any dealings with him."

La Whore says the event was "fantastic... a true gala celebration of Carmen's life. It was wonderful." But she gives no credit to Goulter, whom she accuses of poor organisation leading to a small group stepping in and making last-minute arrangements. "It was hideous," she says, "very traumatic having to pull the event together at the last moment. And then Jevan took all the credit, which is sickening."

Goulter, who has yet to produce the event's financial accounts promised to GayNZ.com for the past weekend, has suggested publicly that La Whore kept the money from twenty tickets he gave her. La Whore says she gave away the tickets for free to friends of hers and Carmens "to save the night" as she thought tickets were selling badly. A clear accounting for the actual tickets sold and the number of complimentaries distributed has yet to be made public, but the owner of Hope Bros., the venue used for the event, tonight said 231 people attended, according to a hand clicker count made by his doorman.

This evening Goulter also denied statements from Carmen and her close friend 'Tranny Granny' Jacquie Grant that Carmen was supposed to receive the full amount raised by ticket sales and admissions. "I said all the profits from the night would go to her," he says.

Conflicting stories are also emerging over the lack of celebrity entertainers including Frankie Stevens and Emma Paki who La Whore claims Goulter said were lined up for the night. "I was trying to contact them and ask them to perform," says Goulter, "I didn't promise they'd be there."

La Whore says she had to step in and arrange accommodation for Carmen very late in the piece. "Only three days before the event it became apparent to me that no entertainers had actually been arranged and no hotel room had been booked for Carmen to stay in. I begged the Travelodge to take her for $60 a night," says La Whore.

Carmen stayed at the Travelodge but Goulter says he had already booked Carmen into another hotel. "I had booked Carmen into the Mercure Hotel two weeks beforehand. Amanda and Co said 'She can't stay in a place like that' and booked her into the Travelodge, which turned out to be worse for Carmen since it was further away and harder to get in and out of."

Goulter also takes issue with criticisms of the event leveled by Jacquie Grant in the GayNZ.com Forum and as reported by GayNZ.com Daily News. "She wasn't there on the night. How can she know what happened?" He says he has nothing to hide "and I'm fronting up with my side of the story. I'm sorry that not more money was raised, but I'm not a conman and am disappointed that people are still coming to me for money."