Teyana Taylor Dancers Say They Weren’t Paid
Dancers In Teyana Taylor’s “WTP” Video Say They Weren’t Paid
A group of ballroom dancers that were featured in Teyana Taylor’s “WTP” video say the talent coordinator never paid them for their work and now Teyana has to reach into her pockets to clear things up. According to Page Six, the dancers claim that Derek Auguste contacted them to be in the video but when they got there, the entire situation was janky to say the least.
“In July I was contracted by Derek Auguste to dance in her video. We waited for hours in the basement at the Museum of Sex. We had to do our own makeup, bring our own costumes, and they gave us a huge box of cold pizza for the 10 of us.”
And despite Teyana personally cutting Auguste a check to pay the dancers, the dancers say they were never compensated. Jack Mizrahi, a ballroom dancer and ballroom historian, was also not paid.
Teyana’s mother and manager said of Auguste:
He was contracted to hire the dancers. They were contracted through his company. We are flabbergasted that he would do anything like this. We presented the check for his services. We’re going to go ahead and recut another check to those kids because it’s not their fault. Teyana would never ever do anything to disrespect them. And she is floored because she’s known [Auguste] since she was 14-, 15-years old.
According to a dancer, they were told by Auguste that they were not paid due to budget cuts. The dancer says Auguste explained to them:
Unfortunately, a lot of the budget was cut which made it very difficult for me to reward everyone on time as expressed. A check was cut significantly lower than expected and I had to prioritize principals. I hated to do that… it truly was a very interesting experience. I learned a lot about character, consideration, honesty and sacrifice.
Ouch!