RIVERS’ EX-MANAGER SUES FOR $2.2 MILLION
JOAN RIVERS’ former manager is suing the comic for $2.2 million (=C2=A31.
5 million), alleging he is owed money for resurrecting her "dormant" care er.
Billy Sammeth, who was hired by the outspoken funnywoman in 2002 and fi red in 2009, filed a lawsuit in a New York court earlier this week (begs2 1Jun10) claiming he is owed unpaid commissions.
In the filed papers, the agent lists the jobs he allegedly landed River s and states he is still owed 10 per cent of her earnings, totalling $200 ,000 (=C2=A3133,000).
He is also seeking $2 million (=C2=A31.5 million) in exemplary and puni tive damages, accusing the star of defaming him in her recent TV document ary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.
Sammeth goes on to claim he rebuilt Rivers’ career at a time when she w as struggling to land jobs - insisting she went from working 12 shows a y ear to 40.
A rep for the comedienne says, "This is the claim of a former personal manager, who was properly terminated over one year ago. Billy Sammeth is now making claims for money to which he is not entitled, and I am confide nt that the judicial system will dispose of Mr. Sammeth’s lawsuit in the appropriate manner."
Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)
