Report: Drake, LeBron James being sued for $10M over 'Black Ice' film
A lawsuit has been filed against LeBron James and Drake over their involvement in the production of an upcoming documentary titled "Black Ice," which premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this week.
LeBron and Drake are being sued by Billy Hunter, the former head of the NBA players' union, for $10 million, as Hunter alleges he had the first rights to produce any film about the Colored Hockey League, as first reported by TMZ.
George and Darril Fosty wrote the defining book about the Coloured Hockey League titled Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes 1895-1925. Hunter alleges he paid $265,000 to the Fosty brothers to develop a film based on the book but said that they reached a separate deal with LeBron and Drake.
"A documentary is still a 'motion picture' and an ‘audiovisual adaptation' and any claim to the contrary is absurd and made in bad faith," Larry Hutcher, Hunter’s attorney, stated in the lawsuit.
Darril Fosty told TMZ that both him and his brother believe the lawsuit is frivolous, and will have official comment through their legal team. LeBron and Drake have not provided comments through their representatives at the time of this writing.
Though the legal process obviously has to play out here, it does seem like a somewhat frivolous lawsuit at first glance, especially coming from Hunter, who isn’t invested in the hockey space. The timing is certainly curious, too, as "Black Ice" is one of the most widely anticipated films at TIFF, a festival that operates as the entry point into film awards season. We'll see where this goes.
The NBA star and world renowned artist teamed up to launch the Canadian vertical of LeBron's "UNINTERRUPTED" media division in the summer of 2019.
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