Skip to main content

Ben Stein Sues Kyosera Printers, Ad Agency for Political Discrimination

by Hollywoodland

DHD:

Economist and writer and humorist and actor Ben Stein has filed suit against Kyoscera Corp and advertising agency Seiter & Miller alleging that an agreement for him to appear in TV commercials was illegally breached because of his personal and political beliefs about global warming. Stein’s memorable jacket-and-tie deadpan persona has figured in numerous TV commercials and appearances. Not to mention his iconic turn in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. According to Stein’s suit, Grace Jao of Seiter & Miller in December 2010 contacted his agent Marcia Hurwitz of Innovative Artists about appearing in commercials for Kyocera printer products and about speaking at a company function. Over the course of about five weeks, the suit claims, the parties reached an agreement on all significant deal points including payment of Stein’s fee of $300,000 for shooting the commercials and for the speaking engagement. The circumstances led Hurwitz to believe the deal was done, the suit says, and Stein planned accordingly.

Early in February 2011 Jao contacted Hurwitz, the suit says, to inform the agent that questions had been raised over Stein’s beliefs about global warming and the environment and whether they were “sufficiently conventional and politically correct for Kyocera,” according to language in the suit. Hurwitz told Jao that as far as she was concerned the deal was done, the suit said, and Stein’s political and scientific views were not part of his contract for extolling the company’s printers.

Original Post
I don't see anything that says "and they signed a contract" so tough luck.

If I'm hiring you to endorse my product and I don't like your views on something I think it's perfectly ok for me to not hire you, especially if I happen to be a company who has just launched a new line of printers touting that they have 0% environmental impact and you happen to not believe in climate change.

Add Reply

Post
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×