Chuck Norris is coming out kicking, and this time through the courts, not on television.
Norris has only made one recent movie appearance (making a cameo on the 2012 film “The Expendables”), but he has racked up an estate’s worth of royalties, even from movies released many decades ago. If he’s to be believed, he’s still owed $30 million on top of his career earnings.
Norris’s lawsuit targets CBS and Sony Pictures Television, alleging that the companies have failed to pay him the share of profits he’s legally entitled to from his 90s TV series “Walker, Texas Ranger.” Norris is asking for $30 million in damages.
Here’s the breakdown of the case from Deadline:
The lawsuit (read it here), filed Tuesday by Norris’ Top Kick Productions in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that CBS has failed to pay Norris via Top Kick, 23% “of the profits earned from any, and all, exploitation of Walker,” effective when CBS agreed to become the primary distributor of the series.
Norris says in his lawsuit: “Instead, CBS and Sony materially breached the contractual duties they owed to Mr. Norris and his company Top Kick. Specifically, the Defendants have consciously sought to market, sell and distribute Walker in ways that are designed to collect significant fees and revenues from the ongoing exploitation of Walker but without having to honor or pay Top Kick, and to instead materially breach the 23 Percent Profit Clause.”
Wow. I guess if I was being fleeced of money like Norris alleges, I’d be suing as well. I love “Walker, Texas Ranger” and think it’s a quality program. Norris definitely deserves the proceeds from the show.
As with any lawsuit like this, we’ll have to wait and see the outcome to truly determine who is in the wrong here.
Share this story with others if you love Chuck Norris!
