More than five years after Chuck Norris and his Top Kick Productions filed a breach of contract lawsuit against CBS and Sony Pictures alleging they screwed him out of close to $30 million over Walker, Texas Ranger VOD airings, the suit has been settled, with both sides resolving.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, an attorney for Chuck Norris said back in 2018 – when the suit was filed against CBS and Sony after apparently promising the legendary actor 23% of all future Walker, Texas Ranger profits – “This 23 percent profit participation has been, and will continue to be, a valuable right, because Walker has been lucrative and popular in syndication, generating over $692 million in revenue to date…But, on information and belief, as technology improved, the Defendants focused less on marketing Walker to television stations and DVD viewers and more on promoting the show on S-VOD services, some of which they owned or co-owned.” Norris’ team points out that CBS was sneaky in their endeavors so as to not cut Norris in. “The institutional system for exploiting Walker and follow-up reporting by CBS is designed to keep Top Kick in the dark, unaware of the precise sources and amounts of revenue at issue, and to prevent Top Kick from knowing the various methods and contractual terms through which the 23 Percent Profit Clause has been diluted, reduced and materially breached.”
Although nothing in terms of the settlement have been disclosed, this could be interpreted as a victory of sorts for Chuck Norris and actors everywhere – maybe Norris didn’t get that full payout, but it shows that those within the industry have no tolerance for letting studios stick it to them regarding money they feel is owed. Really, one can’t help but look at Chuck Norris’ lawsuit and not conjure up the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, as one of the key reasons for it stems from the union demanding residuals for their work hitting streaming services. Will Norris standing firm be an inspiration to SAG-AFTRA?
Walker, Texas Ranger ran for more than 200 episodes, hitting upwards of 14.4 million viewers a season. Oh, and Chuck Norris is now 83, so let that sink in.
Other than Walker, Texas Ranger, what is your favorite Chuck Norris character?
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