Sexy Beaches? Florida lawmaker in suit over Pitbull contract
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Saying taxpayers have a right to know how much Pitbull has been paid to promote Florida tourism with the help of his song “Sexy Beaches,” a top state lawmaker filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the famed rapper’s production company.
Pitbull, whose real name is Armando Christian Perez, signed a contract last year with Florida’s tourism marketing arm to promote the Sunshine State, splashing it up with a new video for his 2014 song. Attorneys for his production company have insisted that most details of the contract — including its worth and what he was required to do under it— are trade secrets exempted from Florida’s public records law.
The lawsuit filed by Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran against PDR Productions in a Tallahassee court asks a judge to make the contract public. It also requests that lawmakers who reveal any details to be shielded from any liability.
The Republican lawmaker from the Land O’Lakes area made the move after lawyers for Pitbull told legislative employees last week that they could view the contract but that none of the terms could be “disclosed to the media or elsewhere.”