Landmark profit dispute over 'Bones' TV show ends in a settlement with Disney-Fox
a massive $128.5-million punitive damages award to stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz and two producers of the long-running show, representing a major victory for Fox. However, the judge left in place a $50-million judgment for actual damages.Walt Disney Co. in March acquired the Fox studio as part of the Burbank entertainment giant’s $71.3-billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox Inc.
in February by slapping Fox with a $178.7-million judgment. The “Bones” award was among the largest of its kind and highlighted the accounting practices of major studios and whether they shortchange talent. In his decision, Lichtman had sharply criticized Fox executives, some of whom were poised to join Disney. Lichtman wrote in his decision that Fox had engaged in “reprehensible conduct” and that leaders, including former 21st Century Fox President Peter Rice and senior Fox TV executives Dana Walden and Gary Newman, gave unconvincing testimony. Rice is now chairman of Walt Disney Television, and Walden is chairwoman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment.
Fox challenged the punitive damages decision, arguing that the arbitrator overstepped. The studio brought in litigator Daniel Petrocelli to make its case.Litigation began in 2015 when Deschanel and Boreanaz, along with executive producer Barry Josephson and crime writer Kathy Reichs, sued Fox, accusing the television studio of cheating them out of millions of dollars in payments.
The crime drama ran from 2005 to 2017 on the Fox broadcast network, now part of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp., which owns the Fox assets that Disney did not acquire.
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