Oscar Night's 'Lady Kanye' Had Been in Legal Dispute with Director
One of the most talked about moments of Sunday night’s Oscars was the acceptance speech for the winners of the Documentary Short category. Cameras followed Music by Prudence producer-director Roger Ross Williams to the stage and he started his speech, but was cut off when co-producer Elinor Burkett zipped into the frame and started talking. (The media has compared the commotion to rapper Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech.)
Burkett told Salon in an interview that she and Williams “had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court” about whether the film should focus just on singer Prudence or her entire band, Liyana. “But there have been all these events around the Oscars, and I wasn’t invited to any of them. And he’s not speaking to me. So we weren’t even able to discuss ahead of the time who would be the one person allowed to speak if we won.”
Williams told Salon that “the academy is very clear that only one person can speak. I own the film. She has no claim whatsoever.” He said Burkett had removed herself from the project a year ago but was still able to qualify as a producer.
In other Oscar legal news: The Hollywood Reporter noted that an ABC affiliate in New York missed the first 15 minutes of the Oscar ceremony as Cablevision and WABC were hammering out a retransmission consent fee agreement. The outage had started at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, and New York politicians had been exerting pressure throughout the day to restore the signal in time for the Oscars.
Law Review notes that best actor winner Jeff Bridges thanked his lawyer Bob Wallerstein of Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof & Fishman in Los Angeles from the podium, as did best supporting actress winner Mo’Nique.
Mo’Nique’s lawyer, Ricky Anderson of Anderson & Smith in Houston, talked to Tex Parte Blog: “That was very, very kind of her. I’m kind of a quiet guy,” Anderson told Tex Parte Blog.
Hat Tip: THR Esq.
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The Hollywood Reporter: “The 10 most interesting Oscar-related lawsuits ever”
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Updated March 9 to correct the spelling of Elinor Burkett’s name.
