OlderTue, 12 August 2008 at 3:25 pm
Vanessa Hudgens Sued For $5 Million
High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens is being sued by producer Johnny Vieira for more than $5 million and punitive damages.
In May 2005, Vieira claims he and Vanessa entered into an agreement to launch Vanessa’s career and “share equally” in the profits. But after High School Musical became a hit, he says she dropped him and owes him $2 million.
Vanessa even sent a photo of herself to Viera with this inscription: “Johnny, thank you for everything, without you, I would be no where [sic], we will make it BIG- Vanessa Hudgens. Sweet.” You can see the note at TMZ.
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536 Comments
Alicia, if u hate her than why do u go under her threads???!!!!
Answer me!!
Vanessa be strong were always here behind you and we will pray for you all the way.
Alicia,
Obsessed much? the effort you go to and concern you show is amusing.
Review? Old news, one man’s opinion, did you not catch other reviews such as Blender, Maxim, AMG or you select which info to alert us to?
In case you’re not aware (I’m sure you haven’t even seen the court documents), Disney via HR IS a co-defendant in the case. They are being sued too in this case and have been sued so many times, it’s almost . They’ve dealt with worse and made a whole load of money from association with Vanessa, scandals and what not. This is routine for their lawyers. Don’t be concerned for them.
Don’t be concerned for Zac’s parents as well. If they read this, they would be more concerned that people like you roam the internet.
Just save your concern for your inability to ignore stars you dislike and get on with your life and your innate dishonesty in using info to suit your point.
Zac is enjoying a racing holiday with his guy pals and V just gave a rocking performance this night. They don’t appear as bothered as you about this news. Together they’ve dealt with much worse and are used to people trying to sponge of celebrities.
You can either save your breath and move on or remain here and keep exposing your ignorance and bitterness, your call. You don’t matter to Z or V or their families or their fans.
I kinda have a feeling this isn’t true… And naomi, way to tell them!!!! If this isn’t true than the world will come up agian!!! YAY!!!
Naomi, Hear,Hear. Darn right, we are with Vanessa all the way
. She has proven herself with her life performances and live singing. I suggest this rolling stone writer/reporter do his/her homework like attending one of her concerts before he/she spouts his/her bias opinion. Ironically, I had just seen a doc. on 6 young writers vying to get their column/writeup published in Rolling stone. It follows them through their assignments and success and failures. Interesting!
DAffy the court settlement was $100,000 get you facts right and she supposedly did pay him. Guess he spent it.
Anyway almost every star in hollywood gets sued about something.
It’s not true! I don’t believe that rumor!
I still love you,Vanessa! Go V!
http://voguebeauty.blogspot.com/
awww
Great post, Naomi! You rock! Hi Boji, got your email and will respond shortly. Hi Go Sox!
Wow, I have never seen so many negative hateful posters as I have on this thread. I suspect a lot of these are Nikki fans and a few Ashley (Z’s bff) ones too. Seriously, Vanessa didn’t do anything to any of you…in fact, someone is trying to harm her in a financial way. And you think that she deserves it? You really need to step back and take a look at your life and the way you think.
I’ll always be a Vanessa supporter and you will always be……hateful????
Nikki’s also being sued and between that and the whole Turks mess one would think te Nikki fans would be very quiet.
As for the other haters - leave them to God - He’s got ways of dealing with undeserved evil directed at a person.
I’m sorry Vanessa has to deal with this, she really is a hard working
genuine person. Being so young she has to deal with things most of us will
never have to. Her family (since she was a minor) was right to let him
go. That was a crazy contact when he was taking 50 percent of what
she was going to make. As far as the money you have to realize that
if she made 3.5 Million last year that doesn’t mean that is what she
brought home, with taxes, paying her agent,lawyers,managment,etc.
what is left. Think about what is actually left. As his so called evidence
that looks like she signed a picture when she first hired him with hopes
that they would suceed . Her hopes and dreams were evident in
the inscription. I feel he took advantage and I hate that she works
so hard and has to give her hard earned cash to someone that
didn’t work for any of it.
This guy said in an interview that he will do anything to get into the spotlight. Well I guess suing vanessa is his only way.
But seriously, who will want to dsign with him after this whole public fiasco he created. What record label even? If I were a future star, i would not give him the time of day.
I think his ego is so huge, he wants to believe he is the reason Vanessa made it big, but let’s look at the facts:
Vanessa got word of the audition for HSM about 3 months after she signed with him. He didn’t get her that audition, nor did he get her the part. Her natural voice and talent did. As she worked on the movie, the vocal coaches on set and Kenny Ortega worked with her, NOT Johnny.
Then she goes out to promote HSM for several months including doing some of the road show, again being aided by the vocal coaches.
When she gets back Hollywood records (a.k.a disney) starts working on her first album of which Johnny wrote and produced 2 songs. Remind me again how many songs there were on that CD? More then 2 right?
And Johnny claims Hollywood records was his idea. I doubt it, they probably approached Vanessa after hearing her in HSM.
If you ask me, this guy really did nothing to help vanessa’s career if he only worked with her for 3 months, of which she was not his only client, so how much time could he have spent on her?
So basically, Vanessa did his work for him which is probably why she showed him the door.
Hmm, he also said he discovered he had not been paid the money after a very expensive audit, I wonder what he was being audited for? Sounds like someone needs to come up with some big money and this is the only way he can do so.
Naomi, you rock lady!
KGG, I think you are right.
Hey Boji, keep up with your own logical thinking.
Must get to bed, good night to all.
Vanessa 24/7/366 (hey 2008 is a leap yr) :P
I hope zac Breaks up with her.
crap thats like so bad for her :(
Oops, sorry. # 240 was me. i forgot to change my moniker back.
Good night.
I dont think this is true.
Sorry Ryan #241 that won’t happen–you really don’t know or understand about love-how sad. Maybe someday, someway when you stop being hateful someone will love you,
WTF! this guy is a loser! in 2005 she was a minor u cant make a deal with a minor and why the hell did he wait 3 years to sue vanessa? Could some 1 plz answer that question 4 me. i am sure she has the money to pay because of her cd(even though it did not do so well) her tour, hsm3 and Rock on. plus she also has money saved up from last year and the year before that. i hope Johny the ******* falls of a cliff and die! LOL . and besides if she loses the case she will still get more money cause hsm3 is coming up.
This is just another test for Vanessa that I am sure she will over come with a strong support from her family, friends, Zac and us fans. This guy viera is an opportunist, using this young girl for his own interest because he knows that Vanessa is starting to make it big, what a pathetic way to earn money. I hope Vanessa and HR can hire a good defense lawyer to give this guy a lesson he deserves and make sure this guy ends up with nothing.
#241.. Dream on!
why did he wait 3 years to sue her???????
Ok, I normally wouldn’t put this much effort into a post but it kinda hit home and the amount of sheer IGNORANCE on this page got to me.
So if you feel like being informed and enlightened, let me break this down for you:
**Please note I am aiming this at the people who are passing comment without thinking and the ones who want to know the truth and can I also just thank the minority of you who are being open minded and seeking out the facts**
First of all, this is a SEPARATE lawsuit, the last one was by her former lawyer, Brian Schall, who was suing her for unpaid fees. That was settled out of court in January, we do not know the details of this. It is unconnected.
This lawsuit has been filed against not only Vanessa but Hollywood Records and Greg Hudgens, Vanessa’s dad, by a music producer named Johnny Vieira.
This whole drama has absolutely nothing to do with Vanessa, just the sharks and vultures who will always be surrounding her in this business.
If you actually do your research you will realise the following…
Vanessa signed a “production agreement” with Johnny Vieira and his company “Johnny on the Spot Productions” back in May 2005, before Vanessa got her starring role in High School Musical. The company in question was established in 2000 as a young artist development and production company. Basically, to find new talent and help them launch a music career.
The production agreement stated that both Vanessa and Vieira would share equally in all her profits (advances, royalties, merchandise etc) - That’s a 50/50 cut! Usually in these types of agreements where services such as these are provided, the share to the producer is more in the region of 10-15%. 50% is absolutely ridiculous. This tells us that neither Vanessa (who at the time was only 16!) nor her parents were particularly well vested in these types of contracts, which is understandable. This also tells us that Johnny Vieira and his company are unscrupulous, crooked, unprofessional money grabbers.
Now here is where the plot gets slightly bizarre. As Vanessa was a minor at the time this contract was agreed, it is advisable, although not a mandatory obligation to have the contract court approved. So, in July of that year the contract was approved, clearly by some Looney tune judge who was high on something that day.
Skip forward a few months to May 2006. Vanessa and her people have decided that she no longer requires the services of Johnny Vieira or his company. The court papers elude that there many have been a “dispute” which is not discussed and there is mention that Vanessa’s dad is seriously disgruntled with Vieira. Johnny Vieira claims that Greg Hudgens has referred to him as a “predator” and attempted to warn other young artists of the man’s unprofessional nature. Now since we do not know the reason why Greg took this view I am unable to comment, however, given the givens that this guy wanted half of ALL profits from Vanessa, it would seem that the Hudgens became wise to the unfair dealings of this individual and I’d just like to say, in my humble opinion, predator? Pretty much sums it up!
The court papers also claim that Vanessa dismissed Vieira “immediately” after starring in the “tremendously successful Disney movie” High School Musical. It is as if to assume that Vieira played a pivotal role in Vanessa obtaining the part of Gabriella in High School Musical and as such, he has been wrongfully discarded after helping her achieve this career changing point in her life. However, reading between the lines it seems more as if the truth of the matter is that Vieira had little or nothing to do with Vanessa gaining a part in High School Musical. I make this assumption based on the fact that High School Musical is mentioned on only one other occasion in the 11 page document and it is then that it is revealed that Vieira was not entitled to royalties from the movie. I believe that Vieira’s services were limited to her work as a recording artist and not as an actress.
So, Vanessa and her family wished to end the contract between them and Johnny Vieira, however as the production agreement had been court approved this was not possible. In order to rectify the situation, Vanessa and Johnny Vieira would now have to enter into another contract, a Settlement and Release Agreement. Basically, a contract that agreed an ending of Johnny Vieira’s services to Vanessa and a settlement agreement between the two parties.
Both Johnny Vieira and Vanessa agreed and signed this contract. The exact details of which are currently unknown, however we do know that the contract entitled Vieira to 20% of Vanessa’s profits from her first album with Hollywood Records, 5% profits from her third album and the title of executive producer on the first two albums.
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*continues below*
*Continued from above - my rant part 2!*
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As I said before it is advisable for a contract with a minor to be court approved although it is not mandatory. However in this case, a clause of the settlement and release agreement was that the agreement be court approved. Now for some reason this was not done. This is in no way Vanessa’s fault. It is the fault of her incompetent legal team as it is their responsibility to file such documents with the court for approval. And when it comes to the subject of her legal team we know of one man who was part of this team – a Brian L Schall, Vanessa’s lawyer from October 2005 until early 2007. Does that name ring a bell? It should! He’s the lawyer who tried to sue Vanessa last December. Vanessa dismissed Mr. Schall in early 2007 and was quoted as saying that his services were “below professional standards, resulting in a breakdown of their relationship.” Below professional standards? Looks like she wasn’t wrong!
So regardless of this mishap, the settlement was agreed and as a result Johnny Vieira was given his 20% of earnings from the first album and the “minimum” amount he was owed for the second. He also contributed to both albums by producing two songs each. “Psychic” and “Lose Your Love” on V and “Papercut” and “Did It Ever Cross Your Mind” on Identified. The trouble, he claims, started with Hollywood Records reluctance to divulge information of Vanessa’s exact earnings from both albums and the inadvertent or deliberate (depending on who you believe) omitting of his name as executive producer on her second album, Identified. In addition to accusing Hollywood Records of covering up earnings that he should be entitled to, he makes many claims of corruption and fraud with regard to Hollywood Records and Vanessa’s legal team which makes it sound like he really doesn’t like being on the receiving end, that is, if his claims are to be believed. Either way, once again, nothing to do with Vanessa herself. Unfortunately though for her it led him to conduct a full and proper audit of her finances and legal documents. While he has nothing concrete on the issue of his suspected unpaid cut he did unfortunately notice one major error – the fact that the settlement agreement was never court approved. You can almost picture the moment the dollar signs lit up his beady little eyes.
So this is really where the big money comes in. Johnny Vieira has decided that although he signed and has been living off the fruits of the settlement contract, he now wishes to declare it null and void.
Vanessa is apparently “in breach of contract” because her lawyers did not gain court approval as was stated in the settlement agreement.
Now if you remember correctly the settlement agreement which is now apparently void was acting to counteract the effects of the production agreement, so without it, Mr. Vieira claims that the production agreement has been in effect for the past two years, meaning he thinks he is owed 50% of her earnings in that time. He also wants the production agreement legally reinstated, meaning that for the foreseeable future he who would still be taking half of her earnings.
As a result of this, Mr. Vieira, the man who seemingly did little to kick start Vanessa’s career and has been leeching from her ever since, is suing Vanessa, Hollywood Records and Greg Hudgens for…..
$2million in damages for breach of contract (the settlement agreement) plus legal fees relating to this issue
$5 million in damages for breach of a contract which both parties were blissfully unaware was still valid (production agreement)
$5million damages for breach of fiduciary duty (a fancy way of saying he doesn’t trust Vanessa to be honest about her earnings) plus punitive damages
$5 million damages for aiding and abetting fiduciary duty (he claims that Vanessa’s dad and Hollywood Records were in cahoots with Vanessa to hide money from him) plus punitive damages
$5 million damages for Fraud plus punitive damages
And $5 million general and special damages for Defamation (because Vanessa’s dad tried to warn other unsuspecting rising starlets that this guy was a con man and a nut job!) plus punitive damages.
So let’s see, add it all up and what do we get? A grand total of $27 million!! Surely that can’t be right? I mean, he’s due more than that isn’t he? Oh wait, I forgot, he’s also asking that all his legal expenses be covered and don’t forget about the Recission! He wants the settlement agreement to disappear so that the production contract can be reinstated and he can have his 50% again too! LOL. Sorry, I know it’s not funny, it’s just too ridiculous I can’t help but laugh.
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*continues below*
*Continued from above - my rant part 3!*
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The other bizarre part of this is that he’s mentioned in the suit a signed picture that apparently Vanessa sent to him back in the early days thanking him for everything he had done and saying together they could make it big, I don’t really see what that’s supposed to prove? That she believed in him? Well duh, the fact that she signed the contract kinda already made that clear. If she really did write this note, it looks to me like the musings of an innocent 16 year old girl excited about the prospect of fame and recognition. If someone can fill me in on the significance of the photo I would really appreciate it…
Ok, Ok, so now (if you’re still reading this essay that is!) I bet you’re asking yourself, “well if it’s so ridiculous, why is even bothering? The legal fees alone will be extortionate!” Simple. No matter how stupid this may sound, sadly the majority of people out there do not seek out the facts. Their initial reaction is “Oh Vanessa is being sued, she must be doing something wrong, silly girl! Doesn’t she know she has to pay these people!” That’s bad press. Vanessa and Hollywood Records can’t afford bad press. So they have two options. The first is to see this through, engage in a legal battle which means it drags on and on for months and this leech will no doubt attempt to destroy her name further by releasing more and more ludicrous claims against her, which ignorant people will believe and therefore more bad press, OR they can do damage control and get rid of it quickly by paying him off. He rides off into the sunset with wads of cash and Vanessa gets to carry on with her career, trying to pick up the pieces of her reputation which many have tried to destroy.
So that’s it, that’s my breakdown of this whole fiasco. Pathetic isn’t it?
Sadly this is not new, this is business as usual in Hollywood, and it’s happened to many an actor/actress before Vanessa and no doubt it will continue to happen long after Vanessa and her HSM buddies are playing bingo in their nursing homes reminiscing about the good old musical days.
My hope is that Vanessa will handle this situation exactly the way she has handled ever other “scandal” that has came her way. She sure knows how to weather a storm. If she reacts with the same dignity and maturity she has previously displayed she will be fine. I hope this guy doesn’t get away with this but unfortunately I doubt he will walk away with nothing. As long as Vanessa walks away from this with her head held up high I will be happy.
Thank you for reading, if at least one of you out there is now more understanding of this situation it will have been worth the 2 hours it’s taken me to write this!
-CC
OMFG. WHOEVER IS WRITING (LITERALLY) PAGE LONG COMMENTS NEEDS A FU CKING LIFE.
All the guys who DON’T like nessa pls be quiet!!!!!! I hope V gets trough it.
We love you Vanessa
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