SIMPSONS STAR HARRY Shearer is suing French media giant Vivendi for $125 million over missing profits from the cult classic This Is Spinal Tap, his lawyers said last night.
Shearer, who voices 23 characters including evil nuclear plant employer Mr Burns on the animated television series “The Simpsons,” was a co-creator, in the 1970s of the 1984 comedy which was inspired by a parody rock band of the same name.
In a statement released by his lawyers, Shearer said:
Despite the widespread success of the film and its music, we’ve fallen victim to the same sort of fuzzy and falsified entertainment industry accounting schemes that have bedevilled so many other creators.
“In this instance, the fraud and negligence were too egregious to ignore,” he said.
In 1989, Vivendi acquired the rights to the movie, which wsa made for $2.5 million (€2.3 million).
The suit, filed in Los Angeles, accuses Vivendi of engaging in “anti-competitive and unfair business practices, as well as fraudulent accounting”, the statement said.
It alleges that the music and merchandise spawned by the movie earned tens of millions of dollars but that the creators were paid only $81 (€74) for merchandising earnings between 1984 and 2006.
According to the complaint, Vivendi reported only $98 (€90) in music soundtrack revenues between 1989 and 2006.
When the film This Is Spinal Tap was released, many people thought it was a real band.
Decades later, they played Glastonbury.
Shearer played Harry Smalls, the bassist for the semi-real band, while Christopher Guest played Nigel Tufnel, the lead guitarist.
The band’s leader singer, Michael McKean, recently played Charles ‘Chuck’ McGill in Netflix drama Better Call Saul.
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