More woes hit the Jamaican Government on Monday (May 31) amid flaring tempers over the controversial Mocha Fest breaches, as organisers for the upcoming Mood Fest are threatening legal action.

The Mood Fest team, behind Jamaican attorney Jennifer Housen, wants Senior Advisor in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright to delete a series of ‘defamatory’ tweets which accused the September 2021 event of being a ‘part of a growing scam’.

Seiveright must also immediately apologise to Mood Fest or face legal action, for which its organisers are well-prepared.

An excerpt of the letter, addressed to Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, reads:

“I represent, and act on behalf of, the promoters of MOODFEST. Further to the government’s designation of the North Coast of Jamaica, among others, as the ‘Resilient Corridor’, and the associated benefits attached, our clients legally organised MOODFEST event to occur in September 2021.

On May 29, the government’s Mr Delano Seiveright…made a false statement of fact in respect of my clients and their business, in response to a question from Sound Chat Radio, such to cause reputational harm and damage to my client. Mr Seiveright’s response was not only false, inaccurate and misleading, but made without verifying, or any attempt at verifying, the truth of its contents, albeit aware, same was false.

That the ministry, through its representative made such a damaging statement against my client, my client seeks an immediate withdrawal of Mr Seiveright’s tweet, and an apology as to the statement’s inaccuracy.”

See full MoodFest statements:

The menacing tone of Mood Fest’s promoters follows Seiveright’s comments in response to questions raised by Twitter user @IrishandChin, who queried the legitimacy of several upcoming events.

The first event was Paradise Weekend, which has a July 2021 schedule, before the Sound Chat Radio user asked about Mood Fest.

“Good day. This is actually a scam. People will have to be very cautious re these innovative scams aimed at getting their money. Further details soon…” Seiveright replied on May 30.

“Thanks for the response, will we see some major publicity warning folks of this type of tourism scam that is being done, after all Jamaica will get the negative blow back?? There is another called MOODFEST advertised for Sept at Grand Palladium,” the user added, to which Seiveright said, “That is also a SCAM. Lots of scams re partying in Jamaica luring unsuspecting Americans primarily….”

The tweets, which Our Today has created copies of this afternoon, have not been deleted.

Almost simultaneously, Seiveright had returned to Twitter to share a statement from the Grand Palladium resort, which is confirmed the cancellation of Mood Fest 2021.

In a brief statement accompanying the Grand Palladium declaration, Seiveright suggested that Mood Fest desist from accepting further funds in anticipation of its event and that the government has “receipts”.

“Please note official statement for your attention. Absolutely No Moodfest at Grand Palladium despite advertisements soliciting money etc to the contrary. I do hope the police get involved. We have the receipts,” he tweeted.

In a terse general advisory, the Grand Palladium said its Hanover and St James resorts would not be hosted as advertised by Mood Fest “in the spirit of absolute clarity”.

According to its Instagram page, the four-day Mood Fest 2021, was scheduled to be held at the Grand Palladuim Resort between Septmeber 16 and 20.

See statement in full:

The latest controversy has rocked spheres of social media mere days after emotions ran high as Jamaicans watched scores of tourists breach COVID-19 guidelines at Rick’s Café in Negril for Mocha Fest 2021.