Evelyn Smith
Chuck Norris might be pushing eighty years of age but the martial artist and actor is still fighting for his entitlements.
In shocking news, it has emerged that the iconic actor is suing CBS and Sony for $30 million dollars in unpaid entitlements.
Enigmatic, wiry and a terrific martial artist, Chuck Norris made his name as an actor and film producer in the early eighties.
A former United States Air Force officer, he began life after the military as a martial artist going on to win many championships.
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He went on to create his own school of martial arts which he later called Chun Kuk Do.
His success and fame, however, came with his starring roles in a couple of high profile movies in the eighties.
He starred in Way of The Dragon opposite Bruce Lee, Good Guys Wear Black, The Octagon, Lone Wolf McQuade, Code of Silence, the Missing in Action trilogy, and The Delta Force.
It was also during this period that he moved to television with a leading role in the nineties hit television series ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’.
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A role for which he is now claiming that CBS and Sony Pictures Television failed to pay him his share of the profits from.
A lawsuit filed by the actor’s production company, Top Kick Productions, claims that the CBS network failed to pay Norris, 77, 23% of the profits for the hits 1990s
This period of failure to pay the enigmatic actor started when CBS became the primary distributor of the series worldwide.
According to the lawsuit which was filed a few days ago, CBS failed to pay Norris’ production company, Top Kick Productions, 23 percent ‘of the profits earned from any, and all, exploitations of ‘Walker.’
Top Kick Production also claimed that CBS and Sony knew what they were getting into when they signed a contract with Chuck Norris.
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The two broadcasting giants knew about Norris’ success, history, brand, and image.
Of course, the superstar actor’s marketability at the time was the main catalyst which resulted in CBS agreeing to become the primary distributor of ‘Walker.’
However, CBS and Sony breached their end of the contract.
The two companies have been accused of knowingly and materially breaching their contractual obligations towards Chuck Norris and Top Kick Productions.
An excerpt obtained from the lawsuit read,
‘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’.
Both companies have been reached out to following the lawsuit but there have been no responses.
A rep for CBS had no comment when reached by Fox News.
The same response was given when Sony were asked for a comment by Fox News.
More details obtained from the lawsuit also claim that CBS and Sony concocted a scheme to cheat Norris out of his money.
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The lawsuit alleges CBS and Sony promoted the series through on-demand services instead of TV and DVD to avoid paying Norris his fair share.
Norris starred as Texas Ranger Cordell Walker in the hit series that ran on CBS for eight seasons, from 1993 to 2001.
The series has been televised in more than 100 countries and was the catalyst behind the made-for-TV movie ‘Trial by Fire’ in 2005.
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