Reality television producer Mark Burnett is being sued for $70 million.  Burnett's former business partner Conrad Riggs is suing for damages, claiming that Burnett has failed to share an agreed upon portion of his profits with Riggs.  Mark Burnett burst onto the television scene with Survivor over eight years ago, and has remained a force in the reality TV world since.  Burnett's other television success, The Apprentice, has made an unexpected comeback over the last year, thanks to last season's celebrity edition.  Burnett is facing this lawsuit just as he's planning to sell his production company.  He and his lawyers believe that Riggs is trying to steal any profits Burnett might make on the sale.

Riggs helped Burnett get into the television industry.  He says that Burnett agreed to pay him ten percent of his profits on his prime time series.  Burnett did pay Riggs through 2007, when Burnett attempted to restructure their agreement.  Riggs was a key player for Burnett before Survivor had hit the air, and advised him as to how best sell the show to television executives.  Riggs also asserts that he helped Burnett assemble the creative team behind The Apprentice. 

As is usually the case when it comes to lawsuits like this, I have no idea who is in the wrong.  Oral agreements always appear flimsy to me, and I'm wary of slimy businessmen who try to take money from people more successful than them.  However, you can't put it past powerful people like Mark Burnett to try and make the most money they can, and keeping money from former business partners isn't out of the realm of possibilities.  For all the hullabaloo regarding Mark Burnett as a super-producer, he really only has those two success stories.  He's had far more failures than slam dunks, but I suppose that's generally the case when it comes to TV. 


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV
Source: Reuters
(Image Courtesy of CBS)