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Judge grants Idol owner permission to end contracts with the show’s creator

By | Published on Wednesday 24 August 2016

CORE

The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of ‘American Idol’ owner CORE Media has granted a motion requested by the TV producer to quash its consultancy agreements with the creator of the talent show franchise, Simon Fuller.

As previously reported, shortly after the final edition of ‘American Idol’ aired earlier this year, US-based CORE Media applied for chapter eleven bankruptcy protection, seemingly in part because of demands made by Fuller for allegedly unpaid consultancy fees. Fuller has not had an executive role at CORE – previously called CKX – for some time, but continued to consult on the shows he created that the TV business now owns, which includes ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ as well as the various ‘Idol’ franchises.

CORE has been busy negotiating with its various creditors in a bid to come out of bankruptcy. But then Fuller filed legal papers requesting access to more information about the firm’s affairs, seemingly in an attempt to derail the deal that the media company was close to reaching with its other creditors.

CORE responded by asking the bankruptcy courts for permission to cancel its agreements with Fuller, stating: “The recent decline in the debtors’ businesses, coupled with the recent conclusion of ‘American Idol’ on American broadcast television, has caused the Fuller consultancy deed to become more burdensome than beneficial”.

On Tuesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the judge overseeing the case granted said permission. Which is likely to further anger Fuller, who has already told the court he wants to propose his own rescue plan for CORE, as an alternative to the one being negotiated by the firm’s management, and which would likely include Fuller taking on a more hands-on role at the telly firm.

It remains to be seen how Fuller responds to the latest development.



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