Drabinsky sues AEA for $50M for Defamation

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 10/20/22 at 2:34pm

Attorneys representing producer Garth Drabinsky, represented by the Roth Law Firm, PLLC, filed suit today against Actors' Equity Association for defamation.

Earlier this year, Actors' Equity had placed the Paradise Square producer on the company's Do Not Work list due to "outstanding payments and benefits, and a continued pattern of abuse and neglect that created an unsafe and toxic work environment."

The move to put Drabinsky, who was imprisoned for 17 months in Canada after being convcited of fraud and forgery as a producer, on the Do Not Work list came after the production failed to pay the company their salary via weekly direct deposit.

The 57-page Complaint was filed in the Southern District of New York. The Complaint states that "Drabinsky has always produced with transparency and respect for all artists and those associated with his productions and his audiences."

Actors' Equity is being sued for an "intentional campaign of harassment and abuse, publishing numerous untruthful statements about Drabinsky that represented major misrepresentations of his character, history, activities, and beliefs."

Although the Complaint's legal claims are centered on Equity's "harassment and abuse" of Drabinky, the Complaint, which can be read in full here, makes other allegations against Equity. Amongst the other various allegations included in the Complaint is Equity's failure to intervene in a case of sexual harassment in the workplace. The lawsuit also alleges that Equity withheld the bond from the Chicago production and it was never returned, which added to the production's financial pressures and ordered an illegal work stoppage during the Broadway rehearsal process.

Dan Levy, Equity's Communications Director told BroadwayWorld in a statement "The lawsuit filed against Equity is entirely without merit, and Equity is confident it will prevail in this lawsuit. Equity will vigorously contest the suit and demonstrate that our actions were fully consistent with our legal responsibilities to protect our members."

Paradise Square concluded its Broadway run on July 17 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, following 23 previews and 108 performances. Paradise Square was nominated for 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical, with star Joaquina Kalukango receiving the Tony for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.

Between Broadway and earlier engagements at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, CA. in 2019, and at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in Chicago in 2021, Paradise Square played over 200 performances. A national tour is being planned for the 2023-2024 season, and international productions are also in development.

Updated On: 10/20/22 at 02:34 PM

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 10/20/22 at 3:31pm

Ha!

Maybe if he wins (which he won’t) he can use the money to finally pay all the artists that he’s stiffed over the years. 

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 10/20/22 at 4:36pm

laughable 

[DaveyG]

Posted: 10/20/22 at 5:06pm

It’s the Trumpian way. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 10/20/22 at 5:52pm

Absolutely agree with all other comments. This is completely laughable. If he wins and doesn't pay people what they're owed, they should turn around and sue him right back. Although...wasn't there already a lawsuit?

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 10/20/22 at 5:52pm

Hahahahahaha this is completely laughable.

best of luck Garth. 
how are you paying for representation????

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 10/20/22 at 6:44pm

Thanks Garth for fast-tracking the release of all the juicy info for us! This thing is quite the read!

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 10/21/22 at 10:27am

This whole thing is just baffling and perplexing.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/21/22 at 10:43am

"Drabinsky has always produced with transparency and respect for all artists and those associated with his productions and his audiences” is one of the funniest statements ever. 

[BETTY22]

Posted: 10/21/22 at 6:01pm

Will he ever just go away? 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 10/21/22 at 10:22pm

I bet he drops the suit after seeing how much dirt gets dug up during Discovery. 

[ggersten]

Posted: 4/14/23 at 9:44pm

He didn't drop it. The judge just dismissed it. 

Judge Dismisses Garth Drabinsky 'Do Not Work List' Lawsuit (broadwayworld.com)

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 5:02pm

Drabinsky prolonging this as long as possible to avoid responsibility. 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 5:07pm

The worst part is that, given the state of the Supreme Court, he's got a shot.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 5:20pm

I have a hard time believing SCOTUS would review such a low profile case, but what do I know?

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/11/24 at 12:07pm

SCOTUS denies Drabinsky cert! Good news for AEA and the other unions involved with the show. Hopefully their suits to recover unpaid wages and benefit contributions can move swiftly. There’s a special place in hell for Drabinsky.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/11/24 at 12:26pm

BWW says he’s best known for producing Ragtime and Show Boat. I would argue these days he’s best known for being a convicted fraudster who has lost millions of dollars multiple times trying to stage a comeback. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/11/24 at 2:25pm

Realistically, this should be the last we hear of this pathetic excuse for a human being. (Sadly, I harbor some doubts.) In any case, once we are eventually rid of the stench, I truly believe there is plenty of material for an opera in the entrails.

An interesting parallel for those who wish to remember some of what made it onto the stage would be revealed by calling it "Mussolini of the Theatre."

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/11/24 at 9:40pm

Pathetic and shameful. In the documentary about him from ten years back, Showstopper, you still had some people involved with his shows, like Chita Rivera, defending him--I wonder if she would still.

It's also surreal to watch old interviews with his and the others--there are two great American Theatre Wing talks online about the creation of Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime, and of course they are filled with nothing but praise for Drabinsky--Hal Prince says he's the only still existing truly creative producer, etc  But of course, back then anyway, he was known for treating those in his shows financially extremely well--and we all know how he was getting that money.

I have a hard time completely writing him off because his productions meant so much to me as a teen in the 1990s living here in Canada, actually in Victoria on the West Coast.  His goal at the time was to make Vancouver the second theatre centre of Canada, he built a great theatre there, and I had the chance to see the Canadian Sunset Blvd, the second company of Show Boat, the West Coast company of Ragtime (almost the equal of the original and since they were already playing when it opened on Broadway, the first time I got to see a new musical before it was even up for a Tony) etc. etc.

Creatively Kiss of the Spider Woman would have (there's no doubt in my mind) died in Purchase, NY if he hadn't recognized that it still had potential if a new approach was taken.  After that he basically offered Hal Prince the opportunity to do what he wanted and the Show Boat revival was born.  Ragtime was ALL Drabinsky's initial doing, since he had the idea to create a modern musical with the scope of Show Boat and bought the rights, hiring Spider Woman's Terrence McNally (reportedly McNally hated working with Hal Prince on Spider Woman--too much yelling--he was the reason they didn't approach Prince with it) and then auditioning and hiring the songwriters.  Fosse, Seussical, Parade (and the virtually forgotten Broadway Prince Candide) were all created, to varying degrees, because of Drabinsky and Livent.  (And while the creatives in these productions were almost all American, as a teen anyway I had it as a source of pride that they were created here in Canada :P )

I think all of that shows at least that theatrically speaking, Drabinsky was a producer with genuine theatrical taste and I'm thankful most of those shows and productions exist.  Of course, not only does his behaviour seem somehow even worse post-prison.  And his skills as a producer seem... not very sharp anymore.  Sousatzka, the Maltby/Shire misfire in Toronto, Paradise City (which by all accounts got worse with time in no small part due to his interference...)

And yeah, he's a complete **** of a human being. Still I do see some, irony if that's the word, in how Ragtime particularly is a genhine modern classic now, Spider Woman is an upcoming film, etc.... 
 

Updated On: 12/12/24 at 09:40 PM

[MezzoDiva47]

Posted: 12/23/24 at 11:17am

garth drabinsky is the donald trump of the theatre world

he should never have been given a second chance with paradise square which predictably turned out to be a complete disaster

then again trump should never have been given a second chance to be president and yet here we are

drabinsky and trump only succeed at executing their most destructive plans because they are enabled by ignorant and foolish ppl

will ppl and orgs like actors equity ever learn their lesson