Breach of Contract - Hollywood Style

Unit 5 – Criminal Law Essay – Breach of Contract – Hollywood Style

Shellie Everhart

Kaplan University

LS311-0227-0507-04

March 29, 2013

Professor James Starcher

Breach of Contract – Hollywood Style

In the contract between Raymond Weil, watchmaker and Denver and Delilah Films, Charlize Theron management company, Theron commits to wearing only watches from RW’s brand during the term, from May 2005 to December 2006. Three months before the end of the contract Theron wears a Christian Dior watch.

A watchmaker, Raymond Weil S.A. is the plaintiff in the case against Charlize Theron and her management company, DDF. Weil states in the case that Charlize Theron breached the covenant by publicly wearing a Dior watch during a screening that was produced by her production company. In the integrated contract (meaning it contained all of the parties agreement) signed by Weil and Theron, acting on behave of her management company, it explicitly states “prohibits endorsing or advertising watches or jewelry for any other companies during it duration” (www.leagle.com).

A federal judge, McMahon, presiding in the United States District Court Southern District of New York, threw out a number of complaints filed by Raymond Weil because he couldn’t prove these in the breach of contract. RW wanted to recover all the money paid to Theron under the agreement, advertising expenses, money paid by other competitors that she had collected and damages for loss of income due to Theron wearing other brands.

A defense that DDF and Charlize Theron could use was that during the contract period RW Shine used another female artist to promote his watches in a magazine. RW Shine could use other artists or celebrities to endorse its products, just not another female artist or celebrity. It states in the contract that RW Shine would only use Theron as the female artists to promote the watches in Europe and the United States. The photograph in the magazine, the same one that Theron’s...