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Nathan and Marissa are a young couple in love. They got engaged and planned their wedding in Muskegon, on the west side of Michigan. They gave a down payment to a wedding DJ, Darren Warner. His company is called Platinum Entertainment. Then, a few months before the big day they sent out an offer. The couple received a text saying Platinum Entertainment was running a special – pay in full, and take $100 off. "He reached out and said if we paid the rest of the amount in full we would be able to knock a hundred bucks off or something along those lines," Nathan said. So now that DJ Darren is paid in full, all he has to do is show up, set up and get down at the reception. But, on the eve of their wedding at their rehearsal dinner, they got an upsetting curve ball.
FOX 2 – Get ready to get down with DJ Darren!
Some members of the "I Do Crew" say Darren ditched his duties right before their weddings.
"He's still taking bookings, he's still scamming people – like it's still going on," said Marissa.
"I think he's a scam artist," said Francesca.
"Right now I'm a bride that's angry." said Karen.
He's also upset grooms.
"During the rehearsal, I get a text that he canceled," said Nathan.
And parents.
"I wasn't going to let him get away with it," said Dale, the father of a bride. "I wanted my …"
Rob Wolchek: "Justice."
"Yeah," he said.
The backstory:
Nathan and Marissa are a young couple in love. They got engaged and planned their wedding in Muskegon, on the west side of Michigan. They gave a down payment to a wedding DJ, Darren Warner. His company is called Platinum Entertainment. Then, a few months before the big day they sent out an offer.
The couple received a text saying Platinum Entertainment was running a special – pay in full, and take $100 off.
"He reached out and said if we paid the rest of the amount in full we would be able to knock a hundred bucks off or something along those lines," Nathan said.
So now that DJ Darren is paid in full, all he has to do is show up, set up and get down at the reception. But, on the eve of their wedding at their rehearsal dinner, they got an upsetting curve ball.
"Literally as we're practicing walking down the aisle and everything," Nathan said. "I'm getting texts saying 'Yeah, my car's not working, I'm not going to be able to make it.'"
The couple says DJ Darren led them to believe he was local, but it turns out he's in the little town of Vassar a couple of hundred miles away. Already stressed, they only had hours to somehow find a DJ and sound system for their wedding. They did it, but with no help from DJ Darren.
"We had to pay another DJ who was more money," said Marissa. "And on top of that, he still didn't give us our money back so we essentially paid for two deejays."
"I found him on a Facebook page that was for weddings and I actually booked him at the end of August, 2023," said Francesca.
That was a year before Francesca and Cory's wedding – in of all places, Joliet, Illinois.
Francesca started getting panicky in the weeks leading up to the wedding because DJ Darren wasn't answering her texts – until he did.
"On August 5th he messaged me stating he is canceling my wedding," she said. "He can not make it."
The day of the wedding was Aug. 10. So at least she had a whopping five days to find a replacement. But DJ Darren still had her money.
"I think he's a shyster. He's a pro," said Dale.
Dale is a dad who paid DJ Darren to perform at his daughter Lindsey's wedding way up north in Charlevoix.
Guess what happened?
"The night before the wedding, on the way to the rehearsal, he sends her a text – he couldn't even call, and says 'Hey, I have to cancel,'" Dale said.
Talk about the wedding bell blues.
"It put a big shadow over what was supposed to be the best night of her life, their life, our life," Dale said. "That was just the focal point of everything."
Why DJ Darren was booking weddings hundreds of miles away from his home in Vassar is anyone's guess. It sure didn't seem profitable to Michael, a DJ who worked some of Darren's weddings.
"I did one in Traverse City. I did one in Gaylord. Gaylord is about three hours from Detroit," Michael said. "So I made some journeys."
Michael lives in Metro Detroit. He says Darren's bookings were all far away and Darren was slow to pay.
"I would have to leave Detroit at around seven in the morning to make it up there, and be set up by noon, do the event and not get home until 4 in the morning sometimes," he said.
Michael finally says he laid down the law and told Darren he wasn't going to do the next wedding until he got paid for the last wedding.
But Michael is a good guy.
"I didn't want to cancel on the wedding party, because it was a wedding and I know how precious wedding days are to people," he said. "So I still went and did the event."
Even though he didn't get paid – Michael says Darren owes him more than $2,000.
But Darren's bad reputation hadn't caught up with him yet, Karen is getting married later this year.
"We ended up booking him. He was local. He had very reasonable rates," she said. "We figured it would be a great deal."
Last summer Darren didn't seem to have any bad reviews, but by the fall, Karen kept reading horror stories about the DJ she'd just hired to do her wedding.
"I think that it's sick what he's doing to all these brides," he said. "In basically destroying their wedding plans and adding extra stress onto something that should be enjoyable."
She contacted Darren and told him she was canceling. She asked for her money back and says DJ Darren ignored her.
So she wrote a scathing review on Facebook. Karen says Darren said he'd only pay her back if she took down her review.
"I'm not one of those 20-year-old brides that he's going to be able to intimidate to take down my post and stay quiet," she said.
So Karen sued and won. But he didn't pay. While at the courthouse, she learned something else.
"I also found out that he was arrested a few weeks prior for a DUI," she said.
And not just any DUI. You've heard of Run DMC? How about high BAC!
According to the state police, Darren had a blood alcohol content of more than .17. Secretary of State records show Darren's license is suspended for a year.
Remember, this guy had a hard time making it to weddings when he had a valid driver's license.
The other side:
It was time for the no-show showman to meet 'Mixmaster Rob' but first, Wolchek had to find him.
First, he traveled two hours north to Vassar in January, but he's not at any of the addresses he has listed.
Then, Wolchek saw an Instagram video for a liquor store in Vassar with thumpin' beats – seems like something a DJ might mix, and sure enough, that's DJ Darren.
A few days later there's Darren going in and out of a party store. He must live close, because he can't drive.
Two weeks later, back in Vassar and Darren is spoted walking down to the store.
When he walked out, Wolchek cornered DJ Darren.
Wolchek: "Darren, Rob Wolchek from FOX 2. I need to talk to you about your deejay business. You still spinning records?"
DJ Darren: "A little bit."
Wolchek: "What happened with your deejay business? Here, stop and talk with me for a minute. I came all the way up here to talk to you.
"A bunch of people have contacted me and told me you took on jobs. You didn't do them, you owe them money. You just had another judgment. What's going on with that? Dude, you want to talk with me?"
DJ Darren: "Well, we'll see how the court rules it."
Wolchek: "Court rules what? Here's a judgment dude. Stop and talk with me Darren."
DJ Darren: "I'd like you guys to leave my property. Leave my property."
Wolchek: "I'm going to wait out front for you to talk with me."
Darren won't come out to talk, but another guy sure will. He hurries down from the store to find out why the news wants to talk to Vassar's most dazzling DJ.
Wolchek: "He ripped off a bunch of people in his deejay business and they want me to talk with him."
Friend of DJ Darren: "Is that factual or are you stating that as a…"
Wolchek: "Well, he's got a judgment right here for $800 something dollars."
Friend of DJ Darren: "So we're chasing an $800 story for FOX News?"
Wolchek: "I got a bunch of people."
Friend of DJ Darren: "Yeah but it doesn't seem like the most benificial thing to do with your time. I'm trying to figure what's good with you bro?"
Wolchek gives him his buisness card and asks him to tell Darren he wants to talk to him.
"Yeah. One of these days and stuff," he said.
After Mr. no name spoke to Wolchek, he spoke to the police at the end of the street.
The police come down and tell Wolchek he can stay as long as he likes.
After an hour or so, DJ Darren leaves the house.
Wolchek: "Hey Darren, are you going to talk to me?"
Darren mumbles something and walks away through some backyards.
The DJ dances away – vanishing in Vassar.
DJ Darren, you're in the Hhhhhhall of Shame!"
The Latest:
The day after Wolchek confronted Darren, he paid Karen the $800 judgment she got from the court via a cash app.
Dale the dad filed a complaint with the Attorney General's office. Eventually, after about a year, he says they convinced Darren to pay him back.
Darren paid Francesca some of her money back but says he still owes her a few hundred dollars.
Michael the DJ still hasn't received so much as a phone call from Darren and says Darren owes him $2,000.
The Source: Information for this report was taken from multiple interviews with former customers, another DJ and Darren himself.
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Hall of Shame: Disappearing DJ gets to face the music – FOX 2 Detroit
