Candace Owens' spokesperson has revealed that the conservative commentator ended up paying the legal bill after Rocksman, the promoter of her cancelled Australian tour, promised to cover the costs of challenging her visa refusal. The tour was ultimately cancelled, leaving 15,000 ticket holders without refunds.
No Refunds for Ticket Holders
None of the 15,000 ticket holders for Owens' cancelled Australian tour are expected to get their money back from the promoter, Rocksman, after it spent all its funds and then collapsed. Owens herself claims to be hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket and alleges she was misled by the promoter, which has ties to the influential conservative lobby group Turning Point Australia.
Rocksman collapsed with just 21 Australian cents in its bank account and will never refund Owens, ticket holders, or other creditors, according to its liquidator's statutory report filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and dated 3 March.
Background of the Tour Cancellation
Owens, a rightwing commentator who has since had a public falling out with Donald Trump, saw her 2024 Australian tour delayed and then cancelled after the Australian government refused to grant her a visa, citing her "capacity to incite discord." The High Court upheld this decision in October.
Joel Jammal, head of Turning Point Australia and a sponsor of the tour, said he believed 15,000 tickets were sold, with prices starting at $95 and reaching $1,500 for VIP packages. This suggests Rocksman sold at least $1.4 million worth of tickets. However, Rocksman entered liquidation in December, with liquidator David Sampson reporting that refunds are impossible as the company had no insurance to cover the cancellation and had spent all its money. The sole director and shareholder of Rocksman is George Zacharia.
Owens' Financial Losses
Owens' spokesperson said Rocksman had promised to cover the costs of challenging her visa refusal at the High Court. "Candace's team ended up paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills, as well as providing numerous loans to Rocksman to make refunds before it became apparent that their assurances were meaningless," the spokesperson stated. Owens only learned of the company's liquidation through Guardian reporting in January. "Right up until the last day, they were still promising us that refunds were just around the corner," the spokesperson alleged.
Other Creditors Affected
The tour's main sponsor, bullion dealer As Good As Gold, has also claimed to be owed money. Co-director Jarrad Panes said Rocksman told him their $80,000 sponsorship would be refunded in 2025, but it was never repaid. "It's like, what have you done with all of this money?" Panes questioned.
Rocksman's Rise and Fall
The tour was organised by three men who had previously collaborated on rightwing speaking tours: George Zacharia, Damien Costas, and Joel Jammal. Costas, a former South Australian Liberal party staffer, previously published Penthouse porn magazine through companies that collapsed into liquidation. He was briefly bankrupted for failing to pay Penthouse's printer. In 2017 and 2018, he organised successful tours with Milo Yiannopoulos and Nigel Farage but backed another that collapsed when Yiannopoulos, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, and UK activist Tommy Robinson failed to secure visas.
Costas helped Jammal set up Turning Point Australia, the local offshoot of Charlie Kirk's former US group, which the pair launched with a tour for Farage in 2022. Jammal said Zacharia helped with the Farage tour and set up Rocksman, which donated to Turning Point in 2023 for its New South Wales election campaign. Jammal denied any impropriety or favourable treatment from Rocksman.
Jammal and Costas went on to organise a 2023 Donald Trump Jr tour, which was repeatedly delayed and then cancelled after selling 8,000 tickets, most of which were refunded after nearly a year of delays. Rocksman and Jammal began planning a tour for Tucker Carlson in early 2024, but Carlson instead toured with Clive Palmer. Costas then engaged Owens to speak and set up and ran parts of the tour, according to Owens' spokesperson.
Jammal said Costas had "significant input" into logistics and program. Business records show Costas also owned the payments merchant for the tour's ticket sales. Costas declined to comment, but he and Jammal denied involvement in the company's financial management. Jammal told ticket holders they would be refunded after Owens' High Court challenge failed, and he said he relied on assurances from Rocksman. "I was not aware of any insolvency issues or broader financial difficulties within Rocksman at the time I communicated publicly that refunds would be issued," Jammal said. "Turning Point Australia's involvement was limited to acting as a sponsor and assisting with promotion."
Jammal's podcast and newspaper were secondary sponsors of the tour. He referred questions on Rocksman's spending to Zacharia, who he said organised the event. Zacharia did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Accounting records indicate Rocksman owed him at least $24,000 in unpaid leave entitlements when it collapsed.
Liquidator's Findings
The liquidator's preliminary investigations indicated the company may have traded while insolvent. He identified debts of more than $760,000 to creditors, including employees and ticket holders. The report also considered whether any transactions entered into while insolvent might be voidable, identifying $385,000 worth of transactions that might be "unreasonable director-related transactions ... in favour of a director, a close associate of the director, or to a person on behalf of [either]." Further investigation is needed to determine the nature of these transactions and if claims are available.
Liquidator Sampson wrote in his report that he would advise the corporate regulator that Rocksman breached the Corporations Act by failing to maintain and reconcile its financial records. He also advised creditors that Rocksman did not have enough funds to commence legal proceedings to recover their money. He declined to comment further on how the money was spent.
