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By Daniel Davidson
It is no secret that reality television has consumed this country. I think the first indication was that more people voted to crown the “American Idol” than they did the President of the United States. Without any indication of these talent searches slowing down, new controversy hits the scene.
With the debut of Fox’s, The X Factor, premiering this past Wednesday and Simon and Paula back in the faces of aspiring artists, it is only fare that we throw the US’s first love back in the mix, American Idol.
The creator of American Idol, Simon Fuller, has recently filed suit against Fox and Fremantlemedia North America, which is the co-producer of the show The X Factor in America, because he felt that he was owed a credit and rich fee in the new show. Talk about, “boo hoo, I started this empire and my name should be on anything that deals with amateur singers.”
That aside, Fuller’s claims are based on an agreement he signed with Fox apart from the settlement that was reached which kept The X Factor out of the US until 2011 and ended the UK Idol. Wait did I say on the side? That is Fremantle’s response to the lawsuit. They claim that the deal that he made with Fox to gain Producer credits and riches does not rope them in this action and they should be dismissed.
As of now, Fox has not answered the complaint. The question that still
remains is whether or not Fuller had any duty to fulfill in order to be given the producer accreditation. It is likely that Fox did make this promise and put it in a contract and will need to step up and settle this. I have an itching intuition that Fuller’s name will not appear in the credits but will probably be able to watch the show on a nice screen bought by Fox. Cheers.