Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau sues ex-manager for fraud
The lawsuit is centered over whether the actor is obliged to continue paying commission checks after their relationship had ended
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Your support makes all the difference.Though Game of Thrones may be entering its seventh season on gargantuan success, it's brought its own troubles for star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
The Jaime Lannister actor is suing ex-manager Jill Littman for fraud, The Hollywood Reporter states, under claims that she is currently seeking commissions she isn't owed.
The lawsuit essentially boils down to the specifics of a contract drawn up in 2006 between Littman, Coster-Waldau, and Impression Entertainment, in which the actor would pay Littman 10% of his pay for employment obtained while she represented him.
Interestingly, a written contract was originally put forth, before Coster-Waldau instead opted for an oral contract.
The issue now is over whether that contract specified that pay was meant to continue after their relationship ended, with Coster-Waldau stopping commission payment checks shortly after she was fired.
Littman now cites two written deals from 2011 and 2014 as evidence to her claim, while Coster-Waldau alleges them to be "sham documents", which he signed in belief their sole purpose would be to support Impression's sponsorship of his O-1 visa.
"Coster-Waldau is entitled to a declaration that the Sham Documents are not and have never been binding contracts, as well as compensatory and punitive damages for Defendants' disloyal and fraudulent conduct," attorney Michael Plonsker wrote.
In opposition, Impression attorney Howard King says that Coster-Waldau's e-mail firing his managers also "acknowledged his obligation to pay commissions to Impression on his earnings from Game of Thrones 'till it ends' and that Littman's work for him was 'absolutely stellar.'"
The actor has himself stated that he isn't leaving Impression for another management firm, but that he wanted to "take control" of himself, including a larger focus on directing and producing.
Game of Thrones continues in the US every Sunday on HBO when it is simulcast in the UK at 2am on Sky Atlantic. The episode will then be repeated the following evening in the UK on both NOW TV and Sky Atlantic.
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