Goldberg v. Paris Hilton Entertainment, Inc.

2009 WL 2525482 (2009)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P is a court-appointed Receiver, and has been assigned any claims and causes of action that Pledge This, LLC may have against Paris Hilton Entertainment, Inc. and Paris Hilton (Ds). P claims that Ds failed to keep their end of the bargain, set in a written contract, where D promised to promote the film National Lampoon's Pledge This!, in which she played the lead role. The movie first enjoyed a short, limited theatrical release before going to DVD distribution on December 19, 2006, but never made money. P seeks to recoup the $8.3 million cost of producing the film, including the $1 million paid to D for 'acting' and 'executive producer services.' Ds argue that D promoted the film prior to the movie hitting the theaters and that the producers of the film made requests for promotional interviews and appearances in Japan and Europe while she was not professionally available. Ds contend that the film flopped because of the inexperience of the producers, and their failure to properly and successfully market the movie. Ds contend that any economic loss was not due to their failure to promote. Ds contend that D did promote the film, and no further appearances by her would have overcome the producers' failure to properly promote it. Evidence introduced by P supports a claim that Ds failed to promote the film on 11 different occasions. Ds countered with defenses such as availability and reasonableness of the requests.