The News Minute | June 8, 2014 | 01:35 pm IST 

Los Angeles: Rapper-record producer Timothy Zachery Mosley, better known by his stage name Timbaland, is being sued for $500,000 after he cancelled a series of concerts in Australia in 2008.

The 42-year-old is in a legal battle with promoter Showtime after he postponed and then cancelled a number of concerts in Australia and New Zealand six years ago, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

In the lawsuit, the company claims they paid Timbaland $500,000 to perform a series of gigs in July 2008 but just weeks before he was due on stage, he postponed the shows by one month until August.

However, the company were then informed that Timbaland already had gigs lined up in Finland on the same dates he'd rescheduled the shows.

Timbaland was then forced to cancel his concerts in Australia but demanded that Showtime give him another payout of $500,000, which he was initially promised.

The promoter refused to pay out the lump sum and is now suing to get back the $500,000 they'd paid him at the beginning, as well as seeking damages.

With IANS