Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh is being countersued by the mother of his child for getting in the way of a starring role on VH1‘s reality show Basketball Wives.
Bosh sued Allison Mathis last month, during the first round of the NBA playoffs, claiming that she was infringing his trademark and violating his publicity rights by agreeing to appear on the reality program. The lawsuit was pretty brazen: The NBA star claimed there was no First Amendment right for Mathis to use Bosh’s name on the show.
Shed Media, which produces the show, was a co-defendant in that lawsuit, and perhaps decided that having Mathis, who was never really Bosh’s “wife” to begin with, wasn’t worth it.
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According to Mathis, she was terminated. She is now looking for a revenge score.
In a complaint filed in Florida Circuit Court last week, Mathis alleges that Bosh tortiously intefered with a contract that she had with Shed.
The lawsuit reveals that Mathis signed a deal whereby she would get $625 per week for acting services, $2.500 for each of the first five episodes and $5,000 for the sixth episode and every one thereafter. Producers had the option of hiring her for up to four seasons of the show. Mathis estimates that total compensation would have amounted to at least $250,000.
But in March, according to the complaint, Bosh’s representatives told Shed Media that Mathis had “several binding agreements” with the NBA star that prohibited her from acting on-screen. Shed was also allegedly told that a TV appearance by Mathis would constitute a violation of a court order.
Neither was true, according to Mathis.
In May, Bosh’s threat of litigation turned into reality. Mathis is now seeking unspecified monetary damages for getting kicked off the show.
E-mail: eriqgardner@yahoo.com
Twitter:@eriqgardner
