Controversy over Rome hotel room, James speaks out

Discussions and controversy are swirling around James's concert in Rome, Italy. While the organisers have brought allegations of fraud, James's spokesperson stated that these claims are false. They declared that they are ready to face any legal action if a breach of contract occurred.

Criticism has also surfaced regarding allegations that a hotel room was left dirty and messy upon departure. Nagar Baul has now spoken out about all these matters, addressing them during a press conference in Venice, Italy, on Thursday.

To participate in a concert in Rome on 16 August, James and his entourage checked into an apartment at a Best Western hotel. Following check-out, several photos of that room and screenshots of conversations between the hotel authority and the organiser's representative spread on social media.

In those messages, the hotel authority complained that the room was left unclean and was vacated without informing them.

Addressing this at the press conference, James said, "The complaint is related to room number 549. One of our guest guitarists was in that room. A young boy. The rule is always to have rooms cleaned by the hotel. Being a young boy, perhaps they didn't clean it. But this is not such a big issue. Such things happen in hotels often. They have to be cleaned every day, perhaps they didn't do it."

James further said, "Many people keep rooms messy. If the hotel authority actually fined 200 euros, what kind of a big fine is that? It is even seen that someone smokes in a room and pays a 100 or 200 euro fine. Different countries have different rules. This is not such a big deal."

The matter is being discussed and criticised on social media, which has also caught James's attention. Regarding this, James said, "There is no need to make such a big issue out of this. Let them do it if they are doing it, let them do it. They have phones, they are writing two or four things, let them write. There is nothing to stop them. Let them write to their heart's content, they have the freedom."

Earlier on Thursday afternoon, James's spokesperson Rubaiyat Thakur Robin told Prothom Alo that Nagar Baul was not in the room that is being complained about.

Robin told Prothom Alo, "We had a total of four rooms. James was in room 345, I was in room 246. Another musician from the band was in room 549, which is related to the hotel authority's complaint. Therefore, laying the blame for one person's room condition on James is not right. He is Bangladesh's biggest star. Such falsehoods about him are not expected from anyone."

Denying the allegations of leaving the room without following hotel rules or contacting the reception, Robin said, "Can so many people run away with instruments? These are false allegations; falsehoods are being spread over conflicts among the organisers. We left right in front of everyone and came to Venice."

Hossain Ahmed, an organizer in Italy, has raised allegations of fraud and embezzlement centering around this concert. He alleges that complications arose regarding the accounts of advance money from the concert and ticket sales proceeds. He also claimed that Robin refused to account for these funds and stated that police were even called there.

Regarding this, Robin said, "Like all concerts, we had a contract with the organisers for this concert as well. If we had violated any part of the contract, they could take legal action against us. We haven't left Italy; we are right here in Venice. If we had breached the contract, the police certainly would have taken action against us. By doing all this, they are humiliating Bangladesh abroad."