Kaskade Wins $8 Million Lawsuit Against Defunct Kaos Nightclub

By Scott Roeben, on March 21 2022
2 min read 1 comment
Las Vegas Nightclubs

The glorious trainwreckery that was the former Kaos nightclub at Palms continues with news superstar DJ Kaskade has won an $8 million lawsuit against the doomed venue.

A Nevada judge says FP Holdings, controlled by Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta (CEO and President of Station Casinos, respectively), owes Kaskade a mountain of cash ($7,950,000) for dozens of unplayed dates at Kaos, according to Billboard.com.

Kaskade holds the distinction of being one of the few superstar DJs we actually recognize the name of.

The lawsuit says Kaskade was to be paid $300,000 per show for his prematurely-canceled stint at Kaos.

Kaskade had 37 shows left as part of his residency agreement when management nixed his participation in the Kaos experience.

Hey, at least Kaskade played full sets. Cardi B was paid $300,000 for her appearance, they only lasted 15 minutes.

Lawyers for FP Holdings, naturally, point the finger at COVID, as has become a popular go-to in Las Vegas recently.

Buffets are closed? COVID. Service is bad? COVID. Show tickets not selling? COVID. Residency canceled? COVID.

Questions remain about the viability of FP Holdings, and chatter is Kaskade won’t necessarily be able to recoup his $8 million. Time will tell.

Kaos closed
Longtime fans will recall we broke the news Kaos would be called Kaos. Somebody has to do it.

Insult to injury, the judge has ordered FP Holdings to cover Kaskade’s legal costs. Ouch.

The drama around the closure of Kaos, a contributing factor to the sale of Palms to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, is the stuff of legend.

We were all over the chaos that was Kaos, of course. Our whole “pretending to not recognize the names of DJs” schtick never gets old!

After months of profuse bleeding, Kaos closed in Nov. 2019 after just seven months of operation.

Kaos was part of a $679 million renovation of Palms, which one Las Vegas blogger described as “a smidge on the batshit crazy side.” We should know, because we were that blogger.

One of the best lines from the entire debacle came from Frank Fertitta, who at the time said nightclub customers “did not have spendable money.” Which was pretty much the understatement of 2019 and also probably ever.

From what we recall, Station Casinos (Red Rock Resorts) wrote off close to $50 million in losses for Kaos.

Other names involved in the Kaos fiasco have largely been lost in the sands of time, including Jon Gray, General Manager of Palms, and nightlife executives Ryan M. Craig and Ronn Nicolli.

Nicolli is now V.P. of Nightlife at Resorts World. Because that’s how Vegas rolls, that’s how.

Kaskade wasn’t the only high-profile DJ to get scrod in the Kaos dumpster fire. Marshmello and Skrillex were among those who had lucrative contracts in place (Marshmello’s was reportedly worth $60 million), only to learn the venue’s closure meant they’d get what amounted to consolation prizes, but nowhere near the full value of their contracts.

And don’t get us started about the alleged shady dealings that went on with Palms winning Marshmello from Wynn in a “bidding war,” yet another fascinating case of Las Vegas circling the wagons to avoid a public scandal. Even major journalistic enterprises like Rolling Stone and Billboard were stonewalled trying to investigate what went down.

The story of Kaos has never completely been unpacked. We’re confident it will be. Gird your loins.