'American Idol' Producer Files $6 Million Lawsuit Against Season 11 Winner Phillip Phillips

-
Phillip Phillip

A complaint filed on Thursday follows the bankruptcy of 19 Entertainment.
19 Entertainment, the producer of American Idol which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late April, is now gunning for Phillip Phillips. A complaint filed on Thursday in New York bankruptcy court alleges that the winner of Idol's 11th season has been holding onto as much as $1 million of 19's money and that he should also be forced to pay at least $5 million for repudiating and breaching various agreements.

Back in January 2015, Phillips aimed to escape a management agreement by lodging a bold petition with the California Labor Commissioner asserting that 19 "manipulated" him into accepting jobs and being in violation of California's Talent Agencies Act, which says only licensed talent agents can procure employment for clients. The Idol star's move threatened to be disruptive to competition shows that often require participants to sign onerous agreements pertaining to post-show deals. Here, Phillips also maintained that 19 had a fiduciary duty to him, and that the company had breached such duty by compelling him to take jobs that were of benefit to the company and its affiliates rather than to him.

The petition has moved quicker than most at the California Labor Commissioner, but not quickly enough to reach any determination before the final season of Idol this year. In fact, as a favor to Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, Phillips appeared in the final season.

But that hardly settled matters. There was a Labor Commissioner hearing scheduled for May 31, but before that happened, 19 declared bankruptcy on April 28 amidst a separate money dispute with Idol creator Simon Fuller.

Soon after the Chapter 11 filing, according to court documents, a hearing officer with the Labor Commissioner announced he was "closing the file without adjudication of the petition." In other words, the bankruptcy paused Phillips' gambit.

Now, 19 is going on the offensive by filing an adversary complaint in bankruptcy court that is sure to test jurisdiction.

The complaint alleges that Phillips has been holding onto somewhere between $850,000 and $1 million based upon the "anticipation" that his agreements (which include a recording and publishing deal) would be voided.

"Phillips has refused and insists that he will continue to refuse to perform pursuant to the Agreements, thereby causing Plaintiffs additional damages," states the complaint being handled by attorneys at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. "The amount of the additional damages from these continuing breaches is not presently calculable with precision but will be presented at the time of trial and will exceed $5,000,000."

Says Phillips' attorney Howard King in reaction: "19's new complaint is a blatant attempt to evade California's jurisdiction and thwart its fundamental public policies crafted to protect artists. 19 cannot murder its parents, then seek mercy as an orphan."

Culled from Hollywood Reporter


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TWO MAJOR FACTORS THAT HAS MADE RWANDA THE GIANT OF AFRICA

-
Image
Volkswagen opens Rwanda's first car plant : Rwanda’s first domestically built car rolled off the assembly line at Volkswagen’s   new factory in Kigali on Wednesday as Europe’s biggest carmaker taps into demand for ride-sharing to expand in the region. Despite low levels of car ownership in Rwanda, Volkswagen hopes to both sell vehicles and use them in an Uber-like car-sharing system that will allow people to book rides using their smartphones. Some will also be sold into neighboring nations. Rwanda to open its first smartphone factory: The Minister for ICT and Innovation stated, “Smartphones are important ICT tools since there are some digital services that only require smartphones such as access to land services among others. There is also need to ensure affordability of smartphones whose high cost prevents citizens from benefiting from various digital services. . We hope that the plant to locally produce smartphones will boost access and also economy,” My opin
Read more

Wow, PMB Agrees To Fund GEJ Government's Job Initiative, YouWin

-
Image
The Federal Government is to consult with beneficiaries and other concerned parties on the restructuring and refocusing of the multi-billion Naira Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin) programme, with the objective of injecting new ideas for its sustainability, the finance ministry has said. The programme, initiated by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 as part of the government’s job creation initiatives, provides grants to about 1200 people to start small businesses each year. It also made provisions for the training of entrepreneurs. A statement from the ministry said 18, 000 young entrepreneurs were trained in various aspects of Small and Medium Enterprises management and business skills; and 3, 900 of them, including 1, 200 women, were each given non-repayable take-off grants for businesses of their choice ranging from N1 million up to a maximum of N10 million. Beneficiaries who were yet to receive payment before the Jonathan
Read more

Oduah - EFCC didn’t find N2.5bn In My Maid’s Account

-
Image
The member representing Anambra North Senatorial District in the upper chamber, Senator Stella Oduah, has described as false and malicious, an on-line media report which alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, discovered N2.5bn in the bank account of one of her maids. Oduah, in a statement by her media aide,  Francisca Onyeisi, and made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Monday, maintained that the report was a mere figment of the reporter’s imagination. The statement reads, “We will like to state unequivocally that this report is totally false, baseless and at best the imagination of the platform who is only set out to extort and blackmail leaders in its continuous attempt by their paymasters to break the rank of Senators of the 8th Assembly.” The senator said the report contradicted itself when it claimed that the EFCC operatives said N5.6bn must have been stolen, before claiming that the agency had determined it was N3.6bn and later reduced it t
Read more