Source:
news.com.au
Holly Byrnes and Amy Dale, The Daily
Telegraph, report
An ugly TV court battle has erupted over
Channel Nine's new signing Mel B after her former employer Channel 7 won an
injunction against the Spice Girl appearing on another network before next
year.
Still smarting after being side-swiped by the defection to Nine’s reboot
of Australia’s Got Talent, Seven took the celebrity judge to the NSW
Supreme Court, crying foul over the pop star's poaching by Nine just weeks
after she gave her notice.
In Seven’s successful claim today, it was alleged Scary Spice, aka
Melanie Brown, was under a conditional contract preventing her from signing
with any person or company other than Seven until January 31, 2014.
The terms of Brown’s X Factor deal were thought to have expired
after Nine inked its new contract with the singer to join its new panel of
judges, alongside British comedian Dawn French and Sydney radio host Kyle
Sandilands, on a revamped version of the talent search series the network had
secured after it was shelved by Seven.
Seven were clearly taken by surprise by Nine’s announcement this week
that it had secured Brown’s services, after she told them she would not be
returning to this year’s series of The X Factor for family reasons.
She has since left Sydney and taken up a role as a judge on the US
reality series, America’s Got Talent, but now faces a fight to join the
Aussie version of the global TV franchise.
The court ruled Brown was “restrained from entering into or performing
any agreement with any person other than (Channel 7) for her to appear on
television in Australia at any time before 31 January 2014.”
It also ordered her husband Stephen Belafonte against "assisting,
inducing or otherwise procuring (Brown)” to enter into a deal with any network
other than Channel 7.
The court heard the Nine Network will be added as a defendant alongside
Brown in the case, when it returns for further hearings on March 25.
A spokeswoman for Channel 7 was tight-lipped, telling News Limited: “The
court needs time to explore the facts and we await its decision.”
Her opposite at Nine publicity was more optimistic, stating: “We’re
really excited to be working with Mel B on the bigger and better Australia’s
Got Talent. We’re surprised Seven has taken this action.”
No comments:
Post a Comment