Judge Judy is still on the air, but on Wednesday the long-running successful syndicated series launched a new spinoff – in court.
Just more than two weeks after Rebel Entertainment Partners filed a $5 million breach of contract complaint against former Manhattan family court judge Judy Sheindlin and a collection of CBS entities, the small-screen judicial heavyweight has instigated a big-bucks counteroffensive.
The salvo is a more than $22 million lawsuit seeking declaratory relief and claiming unlawful/unfair business practices and unjust enrichment, to be precise.
In a deft PR move, Judge Judy already has a plan if she wins the $4 million her lawyers estimate she personally has lost out in profit participation from successor-in-interest Rebel and talent agent Richard Lawrence. The Marty Singer-represented Sheindlin promises to give all the cash to “the charity Stand Up To Cancer,” declares the jury trial-seeking complaint filed this morning in Los Angeles Superior Court.