Seven Summits Pictures & Management - which represented Zooey from 1996 to 2013 - wants a share of the profits from the sale of her entertainment website, Hello Giggles, which was reportedly sold for between $20 million and $30 million earlier this year.
In a complaint filed on Wednesday (17.12.15) in Los Angeles Superior Court, the company asserts that it is owed the money because it worked with Zooey to get the company up and running.
Seven Summits said in its complaint: “On November 16, 2015, after Seven Summits learned that Deschanel received money in connection with the sale of Hello Giggles, Seven Summits requested that Deschanel pay Seven Summits’ per cent commission on her income from Hello Giggles ... but Deschanel refused to pay any such commissions.”
Zooey, 35, had also been paying post-termination commissions for her TV comedy ‘New Girl’, which she started working on in 2011 but the company claims that she has now stopped paying and accused them of fraud over her contract.The complaint added: “Once Seven Summits requested commissions on Deschanel’s income from Hello Giggles, however, Deschanel retaliated by ceasing to pay commissions on all her projects, including ‘New Girl’. As an excuse, Deschanel is claiming that the signature on the agreement is not hers, an allegation that is false, as indicated by the fact that Deschanel actually paid commissions pursuant to that agreement for many years.
“Deschanel is making the false claim that Seven Summits procured employment for Deschanel when it was not legally permitted to do so. Aside from being untrue, Deschanel’s claim is not a reasonable excuse for deciding to withhold payment for services from a dutiful adviser who worked diligently for 17 years. Whereas most actors would be thrilled to have a manager put them on a successful career trajectory, Deschanel is now making a claim against Seven Summits for supposedly doing too much to make her successful and for supposedly doing too much to help her earn a giant fortune.”
