‘Wendy Williams Show’ Lawsuit Update

Photo Credit: Instagram
Photo Credit: Instagram

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

We told you several weeks ago that Lionsgate had been slapped with a lawsuit over “Wendy Williams Show,” and it’s all because a former intern (Anthony Tart) is angry he had to do menial tasks such as handing out coffee to higher-ups and he wasn’t paid for his work.

Lionsgate has responded to the suit, and the company is asking the judge to toss it out since it’s well known that the internships offered are unpaid.

Deadline writes:

In fact, except admitting that Tart was an intern at WW Show in late 2012 and that he Lionsgate wasn’t paid, the 15-page response pretty much rejects everything else about the plaintiff’s complaint. Well, Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation also admits that it is “a multimedia corporation that operates in the motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, and other entertainment industries” and that producers Debar-Mercury is a Lionsgate subsidiary. Otherwise this filing in NYC federal court by Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP lawyers Christopher Parlo and Sam Shaulson is a collection of “no response is required” and “defendants deny the allegations.” Unlike many other studios, Lionsgate does not offer any compensation to its interns.

11 comments

  1. These youngins don’t want to start from the bottom to get to the top. When I was coming up, unpaid internships were the norm. You fetched coffee and pushed papers, but the networking was worth it.

  2. I still think the lawsuit is silly. But what’s going to happen is the intern will win and in the future, companies won’t be able to offer unpaid internships anymore, so internships will become harder to find.

  3. I’m starting to feel like this young generation is extremely self entitled. I did unpaid internships and the connections I made are why I am where I am today. Now I own my own business. I didn’t think I was too good to make coffee and work my way to better opportunities.

  4. I still can’t believe how petty this lawsuit is. I bet most of us have had at least one unpaid internship that meant doing menial tasks. That’s life. Don’t like it? Well, start your own business. Either way, you’re going to have to work hard to be successful. No one will hand you anything unless you’re born into money. LOL.

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