Actors Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Rob Reiner, co-creators of the cult-classic film This is Spinal Tap, have joined fellow creator Harry Shearer as plaintiffs in his multi-million dollar lawsuit against French conglomerate Vivendi S.A.
Shearer originally filed a $125 million claim against Vivendi in California last October alleging it had engaged in anti-competitive and unfair business practices plus fraudulent accounting in its management of This Is Spinal Tap.
The new lawsuit now seeks $400 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Vivendi.
In the cult 1984 film, Guest starred as Spinal Tap’s lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel; McKean played lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist David St Hubbins; and Shearer appeared as bassist Derek Smalls. Reiner directed and starred in the film.
Guest said: “The deliberate obfuscation by Vivendi and its subsidiaries is an outrage. It is vital that such behavior is challenged in the strongest way possible.”
Reiner added: “Fair reward for artistic endeavor has long been raised by those on the wrong end of the equation. What makes this case so egregious is the prolonged and deliberate concealment of profit and the purposeful manipulation of revenue allocation between various Vivendi subsidiaries – to the detriment of the creative talent behind the band and film. Such anti-competitive practices need to be exposed. I am hoping this lawsuit goes to 11.”
McKean said: “This is Spinal Tap was the result of four very stubborn guys working very hard to create something new under the sun. The movie’s influence on the last three decades of film comedy is something we are very proud of. But the buck always stopped somewhere short of Rob, Harry, Chris and myself. It’s time for a reckoning. It’s only right.”
Shearer welcomed his co-creators’ decision to join him: “Their participation will help demonstrate the opaque and misleading conduct at the heart of this case. We’re even louder now.”
The amended complaint, which also incorporates Spinal Tap Productions (owned in equal share by all for co-creators), as a joint plaintiff alongside the co-creators and their service companies, details Vivendi’s alleged manipulation of certain accounting data, while ignoring contractually obligated accounting and reporting processes to deny the plaintiffs their rightful stake in the production’s profits.