Zooey Deschanel: Judge rules the New Girl actor, not her ex-manager, was to blame for missing out on film role
A judge has stated in a tentative ruling that Zooey Deschanel was primarily to blame for not getting a film role in 2013, not her agency or former manager as she accused.
The actor had sued Sarah Jackson of Seven Summits Pictures & Management, alleging that the company breached its fiduciary duty by encouraging her to switch agencies from CAA to UTA.
As Variety reports, the suit came in response to Jackson filing a lawsuit against Deschanel in 2015, in which she sought unpaid commissions on the actor’s “Hello Giggles” website. Jackson and her company contend that Deschanel cut off commission payments after parting ways in 2013.
Deschanel’s counterclaim sees her allege that Jackson pushed her to leave CAA (Creative Artists Agency) as a form of punishment for the agency not getting another CAA client to sign with Jackson. Deschanel also claimed that Jackson knew that CAA was the better choice for her career, and that she got no acting work while with UTA (United Talent Agency).
However, Judge Michael Raphael, in his tentative ruling, held that Deschanel herself was largely responsible for not getting acting work during the 2013 hiatus from her show New Girl. In an e-mail to Jackson dated to November 2012, Deschanel wrote that, “I really just want to play a very interesting small character role in a movie.”
At the same time, she scheduled concert dates for the hiatus and turned down the lead role in a film in February 2013. “I’m worried I won’t have time to play a lead role this hiatus,” she wrote. “It’s just so busy this hiatus, unless they were on a 3-week shooting schedule or something.”
“There is no evidence suggesting that any acting opportunity that would have suited Deschanel’s very narrow criteria… for the 2013 hiatus existed,” the judge wrote. “The record establishes that Deschanel limited her own availability and created a perception of same.”
Raphael heard arguments on the case on Friday and is expected to give final ruling within the next few days.
Follow Independent Culture on Facebook for all the latest on Film, TV, Music, and more.
