Solomon considered suing art dealer partner
Fired CBC broadcaster expected to earn $1 million in commission but received only $200,000
Former CBC host Evan Solomon was contemplating suing his art collector partner in February for not paying in full a $1-million commission he believed he was owed.
“I do expect to be paid the full balance owing in accordance to our agreement and as reflected in my invoice,” Solomon wrote in an email to art collector Bruce Bailey. If the money did not arrive by March 1, Solomon said, “I will have no choice but to explore legal recourses available to me.”
Solomon was fired this week from his two CBC hosting jobs after the Star reported he was taking secret commission payments on art sales to people he dealt with as a journalist.
Leading up to February, Solomon and Bailey had a solid partnership. Bailey, the wealthy collector from Port Hope, Ont., had the art. Solomon, host of Power & Politics on television and The House on CBC radio, had the growing circle of powerful contacts.
Emails between them show a giddiness about the future. “Wow. The first sale! Well, how cool is this? The partnership is on the way. Well done Bruce,” Solomon wrote on Oct. 31, 2013, shortly after the first art sale to RIM founder Jim Balsillie.
“People die for this thing we do. And Solomon’s diddling around with side art deals?”
The art was a modestly priced piece on which Solomon received $1,500 in commission.
As the Star previously reported, Solomon had sought out Balsillie to interview him as a journalist. On their first meeting, Solomon brought along Bailey. Balsillie, who went on to buy numerous art pieces from Bailey, has said he never knew Solomon was part of the deals — and receiving a commission.
“You and I need to raise a glass to toast a good first year of work! It’s been fun!” Solomon wrote a year later, in December 2014, after a $22,500 sale of a painting was finalized to Mark Carney, now governor of the Bank of England and former governor of the Bank of Canada. Solomon took a10 per cent commission on the sale. Carney has not said whether he knew Solomon was receiving a payment.
“I think Mark will open doors to other buyers,” Solomon wrote to Bailey. The two frequently discussed influential people who might buy art.
For most of the partnership, the value of the artwork had been modest relative to what would be their final deal, a multi-million-dollar painting. Solomon’s commissions for the first year, according to documents and emails, totalled under $100,000. According to their contract, signed in 2013, Solomon was entitled to a 10 per cent commission.
The biggest deal, which came earlier this year, concerned a painting by Peter Doig, a Scottish artist who spent most of his early years in Canada and now lives in Trinidad. Doig’s paintings have been rising in value and by March this year one would sell for almost $26 million (U.S.) at an auction in New York.
The sale of a Doig promised to be profitable for both Solomon and Bailey. By January 2015, Solomon had already lost part of his income. That month, the CBC banned its hosts from receiving money for public speaking and hosting gigs. Solomon was a popular choice as a speaker for big organizations. CBC’s public disclosure records show that Solomon previously received speaker’s fees, but spokesman Chuck Thompson would not release the amounts Solomon received above his CBC salary.
With the Doig sale done, how much Solomon would be paid became an issue between the partners.
According to emails and documents, Bailey contended he and Solomon had struck a verbal agreement to alter their written contract so that on art worth more than $500,000 he would pay Solomon a lower commission. From Bailey’s point of view, according to sources, that reflected the fact that while Solomon provided the introduction to Balsillie in 2013, he did little or nothing else to earn a brokerage fee on any of the transactions.
When Balsillie bought the Doig from Bailey, emails show that Bailey wanted to pay Solomon a $200,000 fee as a “finder’s fee,” not a 10 per cent commission. Bailey made the payment and thought the matter was closed.
On February 19, Solomon sent an invoice from Four T Productions, a company run out of his Ottawa home, telling Bailey he was entitled to a payment of more than $1million, an amount that included a 10 per cent commission on the total value of the sale, plus HST, which Solomon was collecting. Solomon had by this time received $100,000, though he would later receive a total of $200,000. (The Doig sold for a price “in the millions,” but Balsillie has not revealed the exact price).
Bailey wrote to Solomon two days later. “I was deeply shocked to receive your invoice,’’ adding “you agreed on the phone to take $200,000 finder’s fee on this one time transaction to make the deal happen.”
Solomon wrote back the next week: “We have always functioned according to our initial contract.” Solomon went on to say that “there will be many more sales in the future” and he hoped they would continue to have a productive partnership. However, Solomon warned, he would take legal action if not paid the additional amount he was owed.
“Let’s not go down this route and hurt a very good and productive relationship,” Solomon concluded.
Between those angry emails and early June, Bailey and Solomon, with the help of legal counsel, worked on a settlement. Both sides contemplated legal action. According to sources, Solomon settled for the $200,000 and the partnership was ended earlier this month.
In his statement this week, Solomon said that “following a difficult dispute with my partner, I took steps to end our business relationship.”
Asked for further comment Thursday, Solomon told the Star: “The terms of my settlement with Mr Bailey are confidential and I therefore cannot comment on them.”
Bailey could not be reached for comment and has not responded to written questions.