TIMING MAY BE EVERYTHING for ROSEANNE CAST

TIMING MAY BE EVERYTHING FOR ROSEANNE CAST | Page 1

TIMING MAY BE EVERYTHING FOR ROSEANNE CAST

By: Jack Greiner on June 1, 2018 on graydon.law

I saw an interesting article on one particular aspect of the fallout from Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet. Do the cast and crew get paid for the now scrapped season?

The answer depends on the various contracts, but as far as the other actors – Laurie Metcalf, Sarah Gilbert and John Goodman – the timing of events may work in their favor. On March 30, before the tweet, ABC proudly announced it was picking up the sitcom for what it called the 11th season. That means that this week’s decision to cancel came after the options were exercised. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Metcalf, Gilbert, and Goodman (kind of sounds like a law firm) intend to argue that ABC’s obligation to pay them for at least ten episodes kicked in at the end of March. Had ABC not made that announcement, it may have been able to avoid the liability.

The total involved isn’t insignificant. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the three stars each were due to earn $300,000 per episode. If my math is correct: 3 x 300,000 x 10 equals $9 million. And that doesn’t include the other cast members and writers who may have a claim to compensation too.

Thus far, when people have talked about the financial hit ABC was looking at, the focus has been on the lost advertising revenue. I saw the number $40 million thrown out. But the out of pocket expense will add to the loss.