Amid Spat, Pitbull Releases Contract With Visit Florida

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - Amid a spat between a state lawmaker and Pitbull's production company over how much he was paid to promote the Sunshine State, the rapper has decided to put it all out there.

Last year Pitbull, whose real name is Armando Christian Perez, signed a contract with Visit Florida, Florida's tourism marketing arm, to promote the state, splashing it up with a new video for his 2014 song "Sexy Beaches." Attorneys for his production company insisted that most details of the contract — including its worth and what he was required to do under it— were trade secrets exempted from Florida's public records law and therefore would not be made public.

That didn't sit well with Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran who filed a suit against PDR Productions which asked a judge to make it public.

The Republican lawmaker made the move after lawyers for Pitbull told legislative employees last week that they could view the contract but that none of the terms could be "disclosed to the media or elsewhere." In a testy statement, Corcoran said lawmakers have a right to review how state tax dollars are spent.

On Thursday, Pitbull put an end to the proverbial 'dog fight' and made the contract public on Twitter.

*FULL DISCLOSURE - FLORIDA* https://t.co/nW5hD9E8ew pic.twitter.com/RrCLMuSVwq

— Pitbull (@pitbull) December 15, 2016

Terms of the contract dealt with developing and implementing a social media and publicity campaign for Pitbull's New Years Eve celebration in Miami, production of the "Sexy Beaches" music video, promotional appearances and his appearance in the Visit Florida's "Conquering Florida" video series.

Also, the contract included the singer performing concerts in foreign markets and having 'meet and greets' with 'key travel industry executives'.

Under terms of the deal, Visit Florida would give Pitbull an initial payment of $250-thousand. He would then receive an additional $250-thousand when he delivered the "Sexy Beaches" video. The contract calls for additional payments of $100-thousand for completion of promotional appearances, doing the "Conquering Florida" series and various social media campaigns.

The cap was set at one million dollars.

The contract stated that Visit Florida and Pitbull have the mutual option to renew the million dollar a year contract for two additional one year periods. It expired over the summer and was not renewed by Visit Florida.

Visit Florida receives more than $70 million a year to promote the state to tourists. Its funding has risen significantly under Gov. Rick Scott's tenure.

Last week, Corcoran questioned the need to spend money on tourism marketing, saying that tourists have been flocking to Florida even before the state began spending millions on advertising.

Florida, with miles of beaches and theme parks such as Disney World and Universal, relies on tourism as its leading industry. Last year about 106 million people visited Florida, with the vast majority of tourists arriving from other states.

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