Senate panel: Canceled Wonder show has cost UH $1M

HONOLULU (AP) — A panel of state lawmakers says a botched Stevie Wonder concert and its fallout have cost the University of Hawaii $1.1 million. 

 

That figure came during a 7½-hour long hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Accountability that ended late Tuesday. 

 

The University of Hawaii athletic department tried to hold the show as a fundraiser. The school paid $200,000 as a deposit, but learned after they began selling tickets that neither Wonder nor his representatives authorized the show. It's not clear where the money went. 

 

The $1.1 million figure includes payments to three law firms and a three-year contract for the university's former athletic director, who was put on leave while the school investigated. He was given a new job after he threated to sue if he wasn't reinstated.