Atlanta club sues LeBron James

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By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Cleveland, at least one Atlanta nightclub feels your pain.

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LeBron James (center) with Miami Heat teammates (left) Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in their game against the New Jersey Nets in October. James is being sued by the Atlanta Opera nightclub over a disputed appearance.

Rich Schultz, AP LeBron James (center) with Miami Heat teammates (left) Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in their game against the New Jersey Nets in October. James is being sued by the Atlanta Opera nightclub over a disputed appearance.

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Basketball star LeBron James is taking his talents to one local club, which has left a competing bar feeling stiffed. As a result, the offended club has called out the lawyers.

Atlanta's Opera nightclub is suing the Miami Heat player and the Gold Room over an appearance James is scheduled to make later this month. A hearing on the request for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction is set for Thursday in Fulton Superior Court.

In a complaint filed Monday, Opera accuses James of reneging on a promise to appear for one hour on March 17, for which he was to be paid $25,000, or $417 a minute.

James, who last summer infamously jilted his longtime team the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Heat, will be in town the night before Miami is scheduled to play the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena.

The Opera Nightclub said in its suit if the Midtown Atlanta bar can't have him -- at least on that night -- no one should, especially the Gold Room on Piedmont Avenue.

"We want to make sure LeBron doesn’t show up any place else," Yasha Heidari, the attorney for the Opera, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday.

The conflict arose when James' agent said a competing club, the Gold Room, was also pursuing him for a special appearance. The suit claims James' agent and his company Awesomelife, took a $12,500 deposit on Jan.11 and then returned a copy of the agreement to the Opera Nightclub.

Then on Feb. 19, the agent told the Opera Nightclub James "did not want to make the appearance" but no reason was given.

Three days later, the agent told the Opera Nightclub the Gold Room was trying to get James to renege on his agreement with the Opera Nightclub and he needed $6,000 to ensure that didn't happen.

The agent accepted $3,000 more and a second agreement was written.

On March 4, the agent told the Opera James was not coming and would be at the Gold Room instead.

"Opera has the utmost respect for LeBron James and his teammates," attorney Heidari said. "This action isn't so much about James as it is about his agent, Chubbie Baby, engaging in improper business practices... Opera is merely being proactive."

A phone number for Awesomelife could not be found so the agent could not be reached for comment.

Heidari said the club had already begun advertising James' appearance from 12:30 a.m. until 1:30 a.m. at Opera on Crescent Avenue. In that hour, he was to "meet and greet" guests and sponsors in the VIP section, and then say a few words from the stage.

"Opera has made a significant investment into the promotion and advertising of this special event," Heidari said.

The agent offered to refund the $15,500 that had been paid up front but Opera declined to take it.

"Opera fully expects its talent and agents to honor their commitments," Heidari said. "Opera's party on Thursday, March 17th is no exception.

The suit says James' "reputation is crucial to conducting ... business at Opera and the public has an expectation that defendant James will appear at Opera." The suit says Opera would suffer "irreparable injury, loss and damage" if James appears at the Gold Room, located at the site of the former Gold Club at Piedmont Road and Lindbergh Drive.

Opera said James is in breach of contract and the nightclub wants to be reimbursed for all its costs, including legal expenses, for this appearance.

An office worker who answered the phone at the Gold Room said she knew nothing of plans for James to make an appearance and all the managers were out of town and unavailable until the weekend.