Arkansas College Sued After Backing Out of ‘Caged Fury’ Tournament

An entertainment company is suing Hendrix College saying the private school in Conway, Ark., backed out of a deal to allow a “Caged Fury” tournament on campus.

Bone Krusher Entertainment Inc. made a deal with Hendrix in March to hold a tournament at the college’s Wellness and Athletic Center. The lawsuit, filed last week, says Bone Krusher had paid a $250 deposit and $5,300 for advertising and insurance policies required by Hendrix.

On May 27, the college backed out of the deal, less than a month before the scheduled event. Hendrix spokesman Mark Scott said the college felt the event was “lewd and coarse and not fitting for this institution” and refunded Bone Krusher the deposit.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction that would allow the Caged Fury tournament to happen as planned on campus – or compensation for “damages suffered as a result of the defendant’s breach of contract,” the lawsuit said.

Hendrix President Timothy Cloyd told the Log Cabin Democrat the college believed the event was similar to Tae Kwon Do tournaments regularly held on campus. Cloyd said the event was canceled after Hendrix officials realized that some Bone Krusher advertising featured scantily clad women, skull-and-crossbones imagery and bloody noses.

“As a religious institution, we have a responsibility to our students and to the community to host family friendly events,” Cloyd said. “We’re standing firm on this.”

Cody Hiland, an attorney representing Bone Krusher, say the event is appropriate – and that the company had offered to change its advertising to make it more suitable for Hendrix.

“(Caged Fury) is an Arkansas Athletic Commission-sanctioned event,” Hiland said. “It’s not a fly-by-night operation, and these guys had spent thousands promoting it when Hendrix told them it wasn’t happening. It’s a breach of contract, at least in our minds, and the only question is the remedy.”

But Scott said the school didn’t realize what type of advertising Bone Krusher would use when Hendrix signed the contract for the event.

“We had no way of knowing they were going to market it in such a raunchy fashion,” he said; “a lot of the sponsors didn’t know either. We were duped into thinking this was a family friendly event.”

Information from: Log Cabin Democrat, www.thecabin.net