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Tag: Lisa Kudrow manager

  • Lisa Kudrow Loses In Court; Must Pay Ex-Manager

    It certainly hasn’t been former Friends star Lisa Kudrow’s day, week, month, or even her year.

    After testifying in court about owing millions to her ex-manager, the verdict came back against the 50-year-old actress.

    In a 10-2 decision, the jury awarded the plaintiff Scott Howard $1.6 million. Howard had sued Kudrow over claims that she had reneged on a verbal agreement made in 1991. The agreement was that Howard would continue to receive a percentage of royalties earned by Kudrow even after they parted ways.

    Howard was fired in 2007, but took Kudrow to court a year later when she refused to pay the ex-manager over $50,000 in fees. Despite being together for 16 years, Howard said that Kudrow moved to immediately cut him off shortly after they dissolved their professional connection.

    According to court documents, Kudrow’s lawyers argued that the money sought was not something she was required to pay as Howard had been a manager, not an agent. They said that because of this distinction, Howard was not entitled to a commission on income earned after his firing.

    The jury didn’t agree, siding with Kudrow’s manager. Unless Kudrow wins on appeal, she will be out $1.6 million.

    Kudrow’s attorney Gerald Sauer dismissed the outcome as, “merely one step in the legal process.”

    “This case ultimately will be resolved at the appellate level,” said Sauer. “Ms.Kudrow has faith in the judicial system, and she believes that the eventual outcome of this contractual dispute will be in her favor.”

    Howard’s lawyer Mark Baute remains confident that the decision will stand even beyond Kudrow’s impending appeal.

    “What generally happens now with unsophisticated actress clients is they overpay for filing a frivolous appeal that has no chance for success. The verdict is rock solid, and we look forward to collecting 10 percent, 16,000 dollars a month, in post-judgment interest while their frivolous appeal is pending.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Lisa Kudrow And Ex-Manager Battle Over Millions

    Lisa Kudrow testified in a Santa Monica, Calif. courtroom yesterday as to whether or not she owed her ex-manager Scott Howard a substantial amount of money.

    Howard represented Kudrow during her highest level of fame: as an actress on the smash hit comedy, Friends.

    Through negotiations as the series blew up in popularity, Kudrow was able to see her earnings balloon from $13,500 an episode to nearly several million dollars by the time the series ended in 2004.

    Kudrow and Howard parted ways three years later.

    The enraged ex-manager is now claiming the two had an “oral agreement” that Kudrow has since reneged on. According to Howard, Kudrow had promised that he would continue to receive 5% of profits earned from their time together even after their work relationship ended.

    Before being fired, Howard saw his share of earnings cut from 10% to 5% as Kudrow stated that at the time she didn’t think it was fair that Howard was earning more than the agents. Later during a conversation with Howard, Kudrow mentioned that everyone around her was letting go of their managers.

    Said Kudrow, “I think I wanted him to know that having a manager was unnecessary.”

    Necessary or not, a deal is a deal as far as Howard is concerned. He is suing the actress for $1.8 million over fees that Howard feels he was denied despite Kudrow continuing to earn royalties.

    Said Howard of the alleged verbal agreement, “I always believed that a personal handshake kind of cemented that personal relationship, and that anything more formal felt awkward.”

    Awkward or not, something more formal such as a signed document may have made things easier on the former manager. Especially since Kudrow is telling a different story altogether.

    According to the actress’s testimony, she promised Howard nothing beyond the first round of residuals.

    Over $8 million is said to be at stake in the ongoing case.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Lisa Kudrow Testifies Against Former Manager

    Lisa Kudrow testified on Thursday against a former manager who handled her affairs during her days as a Friends star. Scott Howard claims the actress owes him 5 percent of her earnings between 1991 and 2007. Howard filed the suit against Kudrow back in 2008 and the case has been making its way through several courts.

    The Friends star–known for her hilarious role as Phoebe Buffay–spent about two hours on the stand in a Santa Monica court room on Thursday. Sources say she had a lighthearted, pleasant demeanor throughout the questioning. She became offended at one point, however, when Marc Baute–Scott Howard’s attorney–claimed “when she was making money she signed written agreements,” but when it was about someone else making money she didn’t. Baute even indicated at one point that she was behaving like Phoebe Buffay–rather air headed.

    Per her testimony, Lisa Kudrow told the court she started on Friends making $13,500 per episode. In 2000 her pay had increased to more than a million dollars per episode in addition to $5 million in “back-end compensation.” She still makes money from the show, which ran from 1994-2004.

    The lawsuit alleges that Kudrow agreed verbally to pay Howard a commission on all of her earnings she made during their business relationship. She claims that she agreed to pay him commission based solely on one round of residuals.

    Howard replied, “I can’t agree. I don’t do that for any of my clients.”

    Lisa Kudrow says she kept Howard on as more of a formality, noting that she didn’t really need him any more. She didn’t believe he should make the same kind of money as agents so she reduced his take from 10 percent to 5 percent instead.

    “My intention was I didn’t think it was fair that Scott got more than the agents,” said Kudrow. “I felt like the attorneys did so much towards making these deals that it seemed fair that no one got a higher share than the attorney.”

    By 2007 she determined she didn’t need Howard’s services at all. She said she was initially pleased with his energy but the relationship had soured.

    “I know for sure that once I was on Friends, I didn’t love having him come to every taping,” she said.

    It was then that Lisa Kudrow fired Scott Howard.

    Approximately $8 million is at stake in this court case, with Howard determined he deserves her post-termination commissions. Kudrow opposes that.

    It will certainly be interesting to see how this law suit turns out. Will the Friends star suddenly find herself $8 million poorer? Or will former manager Scott Howard walk away sans what he believes is his fair commission from the TV and film star?

    Do you think Lisa Kudrow owes her former manager this money?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons