American actor Tom Arnold – best remembered as Roseanne Barr’s ex-husband – is reportedly suing Channel 10 following his stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
During a segment on KIIS Fm’s The Kyle & Jackie O show, entertainment reporter Peter Ford revealed he had recently viewed leaked legal documents that outline a ‘war between Tom Arnold, his legal reps and the Channel 10 bosses.’
According to Ford, the documents show the star’s claims that the network are ‘refusing to pay’ a portion of the $410,000 USD ($541,000 AUD) contract that he signed before appearing on the show.
“I’ve got the documents that have been leaked to me, I’ve got the contracts leaked to me, correspondence between American lawyer Marty Singer and Channel 10,’ Ford told the show’s hosts.
“There is now a bitter legal dispute going on, over an amount of $140,000 USD ($185,000 AUD), that Channel 10 are refusing to pay Tom Arnold for his work on the show,” he continued.
Ford suggests that the dispute came about because Arnold was under the understanding that he was working a “pay or play contract,” meaning he would be paid the full amount no matter how long he was kept in the jungle as a contestant.
“So if you’re doing a TV show and it gets cancelled, or you get voted off or whatever, they’ve still got to pay you,” he explained.
But according to Ford, that wasn’t the deal that Channel 10 agreed to.
He claims that in addition to being paid the large sum, Arnold initially agreed to be cast in I’m A Celeb, in exchange for the network organising a comedy tour of Australia later this year, “where he could play reasonable-sized venues and clean up.”
But after he was the first contestant booted from the show, the comedian allegedly believes Channel 10 have “completely reneged” on their promise.
“He wants the $140,000, but I think it’s also a point of principle, that he feels very, very ripped off by what has happened,” Ford added.
He also acknowledged that Channel 10 “don’t want this amount of money to get out,” as the rest of the cast are only being paid between $50,000 and $80,000.
Ford alleges this will make it harder for the network to negotiate fair contract fees with other overseas celebrities for next year.
“They’ll know what the ballpark figure is,” he said.
However, an official statement released by Network Ten’s General Counsel Stuart Thomas contradicts these claims.
“Network Ten will not discuss the terms of a confidential agreement that was signed by Tom Arnold after legal and PR advice was provided to him, but we can confirm that Ten does not owe him any money under our agreement with him and we have made all payments owing to him,” the statement reads.
“Any suggestion that Ten has not acted in good faith is unfounded and misleading. Tom Arnold’s only agreement with Ten was for his appearance in I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!.”
“Ten understands that Tom Arnold’s agent and lawyer were exploring a tour option for him, however, due to his performance in the jungle, the tour operator declined to proceed with the tour.”
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