THE LAWSUITS OF THE RICH
AND FAMOUS

PLUS meeting will discuss insurance issues involving celebrities

In the entertainment world, they used to be called "Stars!". On the screen, we had Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Gable, Bogart, Tracy, Stewart and Fonda. On the stage, there were the Lunts, the Barrymores and Eva La Gallienne. Each had a special mystique, and we knew little about their personal lives, save what the publicists deigned to disseminate. And we didn't care. Hollywood still has its "Walkway of Stars," and, how many of us mere mortals have over the years tried, at that famous Chinese theatre, to step into the cement castings of John Wayne's boots?

Today, we have "celebrities" and while there may be some who envy them for their wealth and power, stepping into their shoes might be ill-advised. Celebrities do not have a mystique. They have notoriety, sometimes arrogance and always deep pockets. We know more about them than we want to know already, but we keep being deluged with more tiresome information every day.

It is unlikely that we would have seen the "stars" of yesteryear as a focus of a panel discussion at a PLUS annual meeting. But this year's annual meeting does have a special session on the "celebrities" of our time, and those celebrities no longer comprise only actors and actresses.

At this PLUS annual, in a special panel titled "Truth, Media and Justice," there will be a discussion, along with audience participation, of "the inherent interplay and conflicts in high profile cases." Also to be discussed are political ramifications, media coverage, liability issues, and insurance coverage implications as they pertain to celebrity status. Panel participants include legal counsel for celebrities such as Billy Joel, Crazy Eddie, Michael Jackson, Grace Jones and U2. There also will be the attorney who represented Paula Jones in Jones vs. Clinton. The infamous Tawana Brawley case is also on the agenda for discussion.

"There are so many different types of 'high-profile' celebrity cases that it has become a class of business that has grown in importance to underwriters and claims people," according to Chad Milton, senior vice president of claims for Media Professionals Insurance, based in Kansas City, Missouri. "If there is a common theme, it is that many of these cases should be dismissed by the judges, but I believe that too often the judge is 'star struck' and just wants to have the case tried in his or her court."

Libel frequently is the issue involved in celebrity cases, and it can go either way, according to Milton. In a good number of cases, celebrities such as Carol Burnette have taken tabloids to court over the printed word, and won, according to Milton. But celebrities themselves have also been sued for libel. There are those "tell all" books in which a high-profile person decides to tell the whole world who's sleeping together, who drinks too much and who has a drug problem.

"Advertising is another arena in which we find celebrity litigation," says Milton. "We see a lot of claims brought by celebrities in the advertising context. Sometimes names or photos are used in an advertisement without the person's consent. Sometimes an advertisement will use a look-alike model. Jackie Onassis, for example, instituted a lawsuit because someone used a look-alike model in an ad."

At times the situation can border on the ridiculous. "Wheel of Fortune's" Vanna White sued because someone used a robot-like figure with a wig, which White contended was supposed to represent her because the robot was standing before a Wheel of Fortune-like letterbox. She received several hundred thousand dollars in that case, according to Milton.

Bette Midler received $400,000 when she sued because someone used singing in a commercial with a voice that sounded like hers. Dustin Hoffman, known, among a great many other things, for his role in "Tootsie" in which he donned a wig and women's clothes, sued a Los Angeles fashion magazine for a photo spread in which they superimposed celebrities' heads onto photos of models wearing various types of clothing. In Hoffman's case, they superimposed his head onto a model wearing women's clothes. Hoffman won $3 million.

"We are always on the defense side," says Milton of Media Pro. "We insure publishing firms, ad agencies and also celebrities when they are being sued. Sometimes a celebrity is promoting a book and making the talk show circuit and might say something that brings a lawsuit."

The underwriting of exposures involving celebrities is not boilerplate, says Milton. Publishers tend to insure on a blanket basis, and some publishers put out more celebrity books than others. Sometimes the authors want special coverage over and above the publisher's blanket insurance, he says. "Regarding the publishing of books, we don't get involved in the editing process," says Milton. "Sometimes we will read a book if it seems that it might be particularly troublesome, and we might make suggestions if it's early enough in the publishing process. But we don't edit. We underwrite."

Political figures are also among the "high-profile" cases these days. "We insured Henry Kissinger, well-known for appearing at special events and talk shows," says Milton. "And we insured a book by John Dean of Watergate fame in which he said Deep Throat was Alexander Haig. Haig did not sue. We also looked at Monica Lewinsky's book, but we didn't take that one on."

Milton points out that celebrity insurance is not really a big niche for his firm. He says that in many cases the insurance is picked up by another party, such as a book publisher or the people who arrange tours. And, although to the public there may appear to be a slew of celebrity lawsuits out there, in fact, there are not all that many when one considers the number of books published, the number of movies made and the number of performers, political and sports figures out there. "It's more a question of severity than frequency," says Milton. "When a case does involve a celebrity, it could mean many millions of dollars." *