The Cairo Economic Court ruled on Sunday, requiring Egyptian artist Sherine Abdel Wahab to pay 5 million Egyptian pounds (approximately $162,000) to "Rotana" as material compensation for her failure to adhere to the terms of the contract signed between them in 2019.
"Rotana" had filed a lawsuit against Sherine Abdel Wahab, demanding a financial compensation of 10 million Egyptian pounds for "not complying with the contractual terms,” which stipulate that Sherine delivers two albums, each containing 10 songs, shoots two music videos, and performs three concerts organized by the company. Sherine had signed two contracts at that time; the first for vocal performance worth 10 million pounds, and the second for producing the albums, valued at 26 million Egyptian pounds.
Legal expert Hossam Lotfy, Sherine’s lawyer, explained to "Asharq Al-Awsat" that "the court ordered his client to pay 5 million pounds to (Rotana) and ordered the executing production company (Basement Records), which released songs belonging to (Rotana) without their permission, to also pay 5 million." He stated that he is waiting for a copy of the ruling to file for an appeal, especially since he has proof that Sherine did not fail to comply with the contractual terms.
Lotfy attributed Sherine's failure to deliver the albums on the specified deadlines to "compelling reasons," defending his client by saying that "the artist had started working on the songs before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world and forced her to halt," pointing out that she was going through difficult life and economic circumstances.
Sherine has previously faced issues with her former producers, and regarding this, Lotfy said that "after studying the previous cases, Sherine was not at fault," affirming that "it was necessary to terminate the exclusivity contract with (Nasr Mahrous) because Sherine is a unique talent capable of creativity. As for (Nogoum Records), they were the ones who terminated the contract with Sherine."
