Kaskade wins $8M in Kaos lawsuit

More than two years after its sudden shutdown, Kaos Nightclub continues to rumble.

According to federal court records, the DJ Kaskade has won an $8 million lawsuit against a subsidiary of Red Rock Resorts stemming from his canceled dates amid the shutdown of the Palms’ ill-fated nightclub and dayclub.

The performer, whose legal name is Ryan Raddon, won the judgment in federal court in Las Vegas on Friday. The court ruled that FP Holdings, a company owned by Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta, owed the star DJ $7.95 million in compensation for unpaid performances.

The Fertittas owned the Palms at the time Kaos opened and closed. Through a Station Casinos rep, they have declined comment on the ruling. Jon Gray, the hotel’s GM when Kaskade was booked and when he headlined, has not returned requests for comment. Gray was not named in the suit.

Jordan Siev of Reed Smith LLP, who led the DJ’s trial team, said in a statement, “We are pleased that the court found in Kaskade’s favor and upheld the parties’ carefully negotiated agreement.”

Raddon’s shows had been called off as Kaos abruptly shut down in November 2019. The club opened the previous April. Raddon had been signed for $300,000 per performance at the Kaos nightclub and dayclub. In all, the artist had been booked for 30 shows in 2019 and another 30 in 2020. He was in an exclusive residency partnership with the club.

Raddon’s attorneys stated he had performed all 20 of his scheduled shows in the first nine months of 2019. But in August of that year, FP holdings began “unilaterally canceling” his shows scheduled for October.

In his ruling and reported by Billboard, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Gordon said the DJ “could have performed several shows between Jan. 1 and March 15, 2020, before the (COVID) shutdown order,” Gordon wrote. Though Kaos was closed the previous November, the DJ was still under contract as a headliner with the company.

The judge also said the Fertittas did not offer up any other formats for Kaskade shows, including drive-in or virtual performances. Though Raddon was available for such performances, FP Holdings offered no live-performance alternatives, the judge wrote, and no alternative venue in which to perform (the court held up Pearl Concert Theater as an example of one of the Palms’ suitable venues).

Kaos had been closed for renovation beginning in October, which included adding a 70-foot-dome over the 33,000-square-foot space. The DJ’s reps claimed in the suit that FP Holdings asked all of its resident artists to restructure their performance agreements, which Raddon declined. The club’s original headliners included such big names as Cardi B and Marshmello. In October 2019, club reps negotiated their way out of Marshmello’s lavish $60 million residency contract. Those types of generous expenditures forced the club to run in the red.

A month later, Kaos was closed to the public, and used only for private events before the entire hotel shut down in March 2020. The resort never reopened under Station Casinos ownership. In 2021, the company sold the resort to San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, which intends to reopen the property this spring. There has been no formal word on the new owners’ plans for the former, and famous, Kaos enclave.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.