LeBron James sued for allegedly stealing barbershop TV show idea
LeBron James may not want the Alabama football team using the concept of a barbershop TV show where people sit around and shoot the breeze, but one company says the idea wasn’t LeBron’s to begin with.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, LeBron and his company UNINTERRUPTED are being sued by Adventure Enterprises over the TV show “The Shop.” The show, which aired its first episode recently, features celebrities talking about business and success. Adventure Enterprises claims it had numerous talks over a two-year period about a show called “Shop Talk” that centered around the same concept, and UNINTERRUPTED stole the idea and ran with it.
According to the lawsuit, LeBron went and cut Adventure Enterprises out of the picture and created a ripoff show called “The Shop,” featuring LeBron in a barbershop with his contemporaries, “while engaging in an intimate conversation describing cultural experiences.” The show aired as a webisode.
Adventure Enterprises claims it confronted LeBron’s people, and what they got back was an apology and assurances it was a one-time deal and wouldn’t happen again.
Apparently it did happen again, because another segment aired on ESPN no less.
Adventure Enterprises is gunning for an injunction prohibiting LeBron and his company from producing any more episodes. They also want some serious cash.
LeBron’s business partner Maverick Carter is also being sued, and a source close to both James and Carter told TMZ the suit is “totally frivolous and publicity seeking.”
Ironically, LeBron’s company is currently in the process of trying to get Nick Saban and the Alabama football team to abandon their own barbershop-themed show where Saban talks to Crimson Tide alumni like Julio Jones in a barbershop setting. Saban’s reaction to that controversy was quite entertaining.
