Former internet meme and star of Walker, Texas Ranger Chuck Norris is suing CBS and Sony Pictures Television, reports Deadline. The breach-of-contract lawsuit alleges the two media companies have failed to pay agreed-upon profits from Walker, Texas Ranger, which originally ran from 1993 until 2001.
The lawsuit, which can be read in full here, was filed earlier this week in Los Angeles Superior Court. The lawsuit claims CBS has failed to pay Norris the previously agreed figure of 23 percent of the profits, a figure which CBS apparently agreed to upon becoming the primary distributor of the series.
"CBS and Sony materially breached the contractual duties they owed to Mr. Norris and his company Top Kick," the lawsuit reads. "Specifically, the Defendants have consciously sought to market, sell, and distribute Walker in ways that are designed to collect significant fees and revenues from the ongoing exploitation of Walker but without having to honor or pay Top Kick, and to instead materially breach the 23 Percent Profit Clause."
Norris and his production company Top Kick Productions are asking for $30 million from the two media giants. "Defendants have rejected, ignored and failed to consider offers from third parties who were willing to pay a premium license fee for Walker, because Defendants preferred to self-deal by negotiating special licensing deals, with minimal fees, with their own networks," the lawsuit says. "This has cost Top Kick millions of dollars in past and future license fees."
Norris hasn't really been that big of a deal for a few years now. Back in 2012, he said the U.S. reelecting President Barack Obama would result in "1000 years of Darkness." He also suggested detractors of Donald Trump would be "pleasantly surprised" by him during an interview in 2016. We're still waiting on that. We don't trust you anymore, Chuck Norris.
