After being fired in 2011, her former manager sought commissions from “Melissa & Joey.”
Melissa Joan Hart has reached a settlement with a former talent manager who sued her last year over claimed commissions from the hit ABC Family series Melissa & Joey. Terms of the settlement were not released.
Kieran Maguire alleged in his lawsuit that he was hired in August 2006 when Hart’s career was “dwindling,” and that for five years, until being fired in March 2011, he rescued her job prospects.
“Melissa Joan Hart has no heart,” read Maguire’s complaint, which sought 10 percent of her salary on Melissa & Joey as per a claimed oral agreement.
The actress got $122,700 for 30 episodes of the show and about five times as much for another 15-episode season, according to the plaintiff, represented by Bryan Freedman and Brian Turnauer at Freedman & Taitelman.
Hart first became prominent in the 1990s with shows like Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. After the latter show ended in 2003, Hart mainly was featured in various TV movies until Melissa & Joey started airing in 2010.
Maguire said in his lawsuit that he was tasked with trying to “rebrand [Hart’s] image to obtain a level of celebrity that would afford her the ability to constantly find work in Hollywood.”
Hart has found it in her heart to reach a deal with Maguire to end the litigation. A notice of settlement was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
I am pleased to report that the parties have resolved their differences, amicably.
says Bryan Freedman.
Email: Eriq.Gardner@thr.com
Twitter: @EriqGardner
