Michael Flatley blessed himself when he emerged from the confines of a baking hot Belfast courtroom on Thursday.
The choreographer was jubilant after a judge ruled in his favour over a legal challenge that barred him from any involvement in upcoming Lord of the Dance productions.
Vowing to “lift the roof” of Dublin’s 3Arena next week when the 30th anniversary run of the show begins, its creator told reporters he was “100 per cent” back in control.
He was quickly ushered away by his lawyers.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the tone had been very different.
His apparent lack of control when it came to his personal spending habits was outlined in excruciating detail in the same wood-panelled Chancery court room. Mr Flatley, it appeared, was in some difficulty.
Eye-watering amounts of money were borrowed by the 67-year-old intent on living the lifestyle of a Monaco millionaire “without the funds to do so”, his former financial adviser, Des Walshe, wrote in a letter last month. His ex-client was “faking it” on a multimillion-euro scale to maintain “the pretence of wealth”, the hushed court was told.
The deeply unflattering depiction of Mr Flatley and his out-of-control spending in this legal case will be difficult to shake.
Borrowing €75,000 to spend on a birthday party and €50,000 to join the jet set at a Monaco yacht club when promoters’ bills are stacking up at home does little to enhance his reputation.
Mr Walshe, who parted ways with Mr Flatley last year, told his ex-client’s solicitor that many promoters were “reluctant” to deal with the performer directly because of concerns about not being paid.
The financial adviser’s letter formed a significant part of the case brought by Switzer Consulting Ltd.
Mr Flatley’s legal team rejected claims made by Switzer’s lawyers as “false and personal”, while slating the company over its own finances.
The fact the performer could access €500,000 overnight – the money is sitting in an account in Dublin on a solicitor’s undertaking, the court was told on Wednesday – was testament to his ability to generate finance, according to his legal team.
Beyond dispute in the case were the multimillion losses incurred by Mr Flatley over the funding of his feature film, Blackbird.
He “foolishly” put up Castlehyde mansion in Fermoy, Co Cork, as security and the movie flopped at the box office, leaving him with debts north of €4.5 million and “no way to pay it back”, according to Mr Walshe.
While the legal hearing didn’t spell out a total figure for his debts, the film flop was among the “horrendous business mistakes” he made when he was “running out of rope financially”.
What is clear from the case is that Mr Flatley has been in financial difficulty. The precarious state of his finances was exposed along with his levels of borrowing and alleged “insatiable appetite for lifestyle cash”.
Although able to secure funds at the 11th hour, outstanding debts remain. More than £2 million (€2.30) is owed to Philip Moross, the individual who owns the Lord of the Dance music rights.
Acrimony lingered in the courtroom on Thursday. “Hotly disputed” allegations, as the judge described them, have been traded between the two sides since the temporary injunction was granted to Switzer a fortnight ago.
Mr Flatley listened intently to Mr Justice Simpson yesterday when he referred to “a considerable amount of material” in the affidavits presented in the case which cannot be dealt with by the Belfast court. Instead, they will be heard before a pending trial in the Republic.
Lord of the Dance will return next week, but the drama will continue offstage.