Showing posts with label JOn Lovitz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JOn Lovitz. Show all posts
Friday, May 3, 2013
Jon Lovitz Countersued by Club Manager
A roundup of entertainment law news including a Johnny Ramone photograph lawsuit and a "Price is Right" settlement.
Frank Kelley, who managed Jon Lovitz' eponymous Los Angeles comedy club, has filed counterclaims against the comedian.
Last month, Lovitz sued Kelley, alleging that his partner stole money for his own personal use and mismanaged the The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club.
Kelley's retort?
"In this lawsuit," says the counterclaim, "(Lovitz) appears to be channeling one of his most recognizable characters, 'Tommy Flanagan, The Pathological Liar.'"
Kelley blames Lovitz for everything that went wrong with the comedy club.
He says that the two entered into an agreement in 2009 and that Lovitz was to obtain the funds necessary to operate the club, Kelley would manage, and the two would be 50/50 partners.
"From the very beginning, Kelley had great difficult meeting the club's financial obligations due to Lovitz's inability or unwillingness to provide the necessary capital to properly fund the joint venture coupled with the fact that the club's expenses exceeded its revenues."
Among the bad expenses that Kelley cites in his cross-complaint (read in full here... http://www.scribd.com/doc/139099352/Lov-It-z-Counterclaim ) are "Jon's unilateral and irresponsible decision to spend $210,000 on a TV sign promoting the club and his inexplicably spending approximately $20,000 on a 'Get Happy' advertising campaigning that did not actually reference Jon Lovitz Comedy Club."
In the original lawsuit, Lovitz alleged that Kelley has failed to pay many of the club's performers, choosing instead to keep this money for himself.
Kelley strikes back with a defamation claim against Lovitz for telling performers including Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman that they weren't being paid because the manager had taken their money and was embezzling funds.
Read More... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/hollywood-docket-jon-lovitz-countersued-450935
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
L.A. Comedy Club in Money Troubles from Manager's Embezzlement
The former "SNL" star alleges his club's manager stole more than $100,000 and caused the club to fail and cost him $1.5 million.
Comic Jon Lovitz's eponymous Los Angeles comedy club is in "financial disarray" thanks to a partner who stole money for his own personal use and mismanaged the property, according to a new lawsuit.
According to a complaint filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Frank Kelley partnered with the former Saturday Night Live star in 2009 to open the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club on Universal's CityWalk in Universal City. Lovitz alleges he invested $1.5 million of his own money and entrusted the day-to-day business to Kelley, who is said to have presented himself as an experienced comedy club manager.
But Kelley is alleged to have used the club credit card and checks to make more than $100,000 in personal purchases. He also is alleged to have mismanaged the venue while causing the business to fall apart.
The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club has been a fixture at the outdoor CityWalk mall since it opened in 2009. But Lovitz claims that there have been problems behind the scenes.
"Indeed, although the club has hosted numerous sold-out shows for some of the biggest performers in comedy, Kelley has failed to pay many of these performers the money they were promised, choosing instead to keep this money for himself," according to the lawsuit.
"While Kelley has obviously benefited significantly from such financial scheming, the club, on the other hand, has fallen into financial disarray, and [Lovitz] has lost substantial sums of money that he invested in the club."
Read More... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/jon-lovitz-lawsuit-claims-partner-432649
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