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Decision of Note: TV Reality Show Release Overrides Objection Clause
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York upheld a release clause signed by an entertainment attorney who appeared in WE network's reality TV show Money. Power. Respect. Shapiro v. NFGTV Inc., 16 Civ. 9152.
Entertainment attorney Kelly Shapiro filed suit alleging fraudulent inducement, among other things, over how she was depicted in the series. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe noted Shapiro claimed “the production company falsely represent[ed] that the series was intended to 'shed light' on 'minority females in the entertainment business,' when Defendants actually intended to use the show to 'defame and disparage her.'”
Shapiro had been able to get a clause inserted in the participation agreement that allowed her to object to scenes that “cause[d her] to directly violate a rule of professional conduct.” But District Judge Gardephe determined Shapiro's causes of action were barred because the agreement included a release of “any and all claims … whether now known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, and whether or not concealed or hidden in any way directly or indirectly related to or arising directly or indirectly out of” the reality show and that she didn't alleged fraud separate from the release.
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Stan Soocher is Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment Law & Finance and a tenured Associate Professor of Music & Entertainment Studies at the University of Colorado's Denver Campus. He is author of the book Baby You're a Rich Man: Suing the Beatles for Fun & Profit (ForeEdge/University Press of New England). For more,
visit www.stansoocher.com.
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