Actress Zooey Deschanel is suing Steve Madden after he allegedly reneged on a verbal contract for a collaborative accessories line.
The lawsuit says that Deschanel’s agent and Steve Madden made a binding oral contract in August 2010, which declared that Zooey would receive $2 million to become the face of a line called Zooey’s Shoes and Accessories. The deal was intended to cover 13 days of work, including an ad campaign shoot and media obligations. It went on to stipulate that Zooey would earn her money whether the collection was made or not.
Madden returned to Deschanel’s people a few weeks later and negotiated a smaller $1.5 million fee due to complications with a major retailer. The new amount was agreed upon, and it was decided that Deschanel could not enter into a similar deal with any other fashion label.
Fast forward to October, when Madden told Deschanel’s agent the deal was off. But give the original terms of the contract, Deschanel still wants her moolah.
California State law declares that verbal contracts are binding, but it really is a case of he said, she said. It’s predicted Madden will pay up to avoid bad press over the issue. No one wants to see this thing get messy in court. And hopefully it’ll pave the way for the stylish Ms Deschanel to really design a line for another label. We all know that takes more than 13 days after all!
[Image Source: Amelia Beamish/Wikipedia Commons]
