Courtesy of Everett CollectionThe son of Ozzy Osbourne says production partners are unjustly claiming they partially own rights to the reality series, which VH1 is reviving this year.
Like with any family, The Osbournes reboot planned for VH1 is seeing infighting.
But the latest dispute isn't between members of Ozzy Osbourne's notorious brood, whose antics were the subject of the MTV series from 2002 to 2005. In several lawsuits filed earlier this week, Jack Osbourne is taking on several companies he partially owns, one of which he claims is trying to unjustly claim revenue for the reality series' upcoming episodes.
In California federal court on Wednesday, the production company behind the MTV series, JOKS, of which Osbourne is a member, sued Schweet Entertainment. The company claims Schweet, which Osbourne owns with producing partners Rob Worsoff and Brian Wendel, contends it has a 55-percent interest in any upcoming episodes of The Osbournes.
JOKS claims to be the exclusive owner of interest in the show.
“JOKS' idea to and interest in producing new episodes of 'The Osbournes' for television broadcast pre-dated Jack Osbourne's involvement in Schweet, and was conceived completely independently of Schweet," states the complaint.
JOKS never heard pitches or ideas for new Osbournes episodes from Schweet, continues the filing. "Contrary to Defendants' contentions, JOKS never entered into any agreement, express or implied, related to the Defendants' involvement in the production of new episodes of 'The Osbournes' and never conveyed to Defendants any interest in 'The Osbournes' and/or the copyrights and trademarks associated therewith," claims JOKS.
The lawsuit follows a separate action Osbourne filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday in which he looks to dissolve Schweet. He claims Worsoff and Wendel "paid themselves exorbitant salaries, but have failed and refused to pay" him, further claiming they've taken business opportunities for themselves away from the company, with which he produced the elite K-9 training reality series Alpha Dogs for National Geographic in 2013.
Osbourne filed four other lawsuits on Monday in which he seeks to dissolve other companies he runs with Wendel and Worsoff, some in film and TV production and some in music. In each, he makes similar allegations his partners overpaid themselves and diverted business opportunities.
Nicholas Rozansky of Ezra Brutzkus Gubner filed the complaints. THR could not reach Wendel and Worsoff for comment.
The Osbournes reboot featuring the Black Sabbath frontman, his wife Sharon, his daughter (and recently exited Fashion Police host) Kelly, and Jack is expected to air in 2015. It’s one in a series of upcoming reality reboots, including Fox's Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and NBC's Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and reboots in general, with networks reviving properties including NBC's Coach and Fox's The X Files.
VH1, which is not a party to the lawsuits, declined to comment.
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