According to RadarOnline, actress Tori Spelling recently settled a $60 million lawsuit filed against her for allegedly stealing an idea for her reality show on the Oxygen network. Spelling was sued last summer by three producers who insisted that the actress' production company and others used their idea for her television show.
Denny O'Neil Jr, Jake P Hall, and Charles W Malcolm identified Spelling and her husband's firm Life in a Bowl Productions, Oxygen Media, Bunim-Murray Productions and World of Wonder Productions in June last year in the Los Angeles Superior Court. The trio, said Yahoo News, charged Spelling and other for breach of implied in fact contract, breach of fiduciary duty, slander of title, false advertising, unfair business practices and other related charges for stealing an idea that Spelling and the others used for her reality series "sTORIbook Weddings."
According to the plaintiffs, they came up with the idea that Spelling and husband Dean McDermott would star in "Wedding Rescue." They said that the idea was filed with the Writers Guild of America, and later on pitched the show to the celebrity couple and an executive of Oxygen. The trio added that they did not hear anything until they saw four years later Spelling's show that bears an uncanny resemblance to their pitch.
Yahoo News also said that the trio claimed that Oxygen and Bunim-Murray had ripped off their show idea titled "Tattoo Star" for their own version, which is the network's "Best Ink" series.
O'Neil Jr, Hall and Malcolm are seeking over $8.5 million for each of the seven charges they have filed against Spelling and company, plus additional fees and costs to pursue the lawsuit.
RadarOnline said Spelling and her co-defendants filed to dismiss the lawsuit with a settlement on January 21. The celebrity news site said terms of the settlement were not made available. Should the producers decided to pursue the case in court, Spelling and others would face a trial beginning June 2 this year.
