Broadway Producer Garth Drabinsky Sues Actors’ Equity For $50M, Claiming Defamation & “Blacklisting” Following ‘Paradise Square’ Collapse; Union “Vigorously” Disagrees
deadline.comThree months after his hoped-for Broadway comeback Paradise Square closed amidst bad box office, legal battles, a Covid outbreak and allegations of a toxic work environment, producer Garth Drabinsky is suing Actors’ Equity for $50 million, accusing the union of waging “an intentional campaign of harassment and abuse” when it placed the Canada-based Drabinsky on its Do Not Work list last summer.
Equity says it will fight the claim. “The lawsuit filed against Equity is entirely without merit, and Equity is confident it will prevail in this lawsuit,” an Equity spokesman said in a statement. “Equity will vigorously contest the suit and demonstrate that our actions were fully consistent with our legal responsibilities to protect our members.” The 57-page complaint was filed today in the Southern District of New York.
Read it here. Last July, Equity announced that Drabinsky had “made it clear that he is unable to uphold the terms of a union contract,” and would add him to its Do Not Work list immediately after Paradise Square closed on July 17.
The union, along with United Scenic Artists, also sued Drabinsky for a combined sum in excess of $300,000 in unpaid wages and benefit contributions.
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