Lucasfilm has found itself at the centre of what could become a very messy court case.
According to Deadline, the Kathleen Kennedy-run Disney division has been hit with a breach of contract lawsuit by former The Acolyte executive producer Karyn McCarthy, who was reportedly let go from the Leslye Headland-created Disney+ Star Wars series after just a few weeks of work last year.
It seems Lucasfilm actually courted McCarthy for the job in the first place, and she passed on what could have been a very lucrative Apple TV+ deal to accommodate them. Then, "two weeks after starting work on the show, without explanation, without reason, without justification, Lucasfilm told McCarthy it wanted out of the deal.”
McCarthy was said to be disappointed, but took it in her stride - until she asked to be compensated.
"When McCarthy went to Lucasfilm and requested to be paid, Lucasfilm denied that they even had an agreement, even though (1) they had made their offer, containing all of the material deal points; (2) McCarthy accepted that offer; (3) Lucasfilm had McCarthy start right away; and (4) Lucasfilm sent to McCarthy a memorandum of agreement, memorializing the terms including that McCarthy had already commenced working, In further disregard of McCarthy and the work she had already done, Lucasfilm offered to pay McCarthy $5,000 for a single day’s work.
McCarthy rejected Lucasfilm’s anemic and insulting offer, and even though Lucasfilm acknowledged that McCarthy had, in fact, performed work for it, Lucasfilm never paid McCarthy for that work. McCarthy is therefore forced to bring this action to hold Lucasfilm accountable for its egregious breach of their agreement, its bad faith denial of that agreement, and for the statutory penalties McCarthy is entitled for its failure to pay her for her work."
Again, this could get very messy!