The Oscar-winning composer of the score to “La La Land” has dropped his suit against William Morris Endeavor Entertainment LLC in which he alleged that the agency shorted him out of the profits of a series of live performances based on the 2016 film.
Attorneys for plaintiff Justin Hurwitz filed court papers on Aug. 18 with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Barbara Scheper asking that his case be dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning it can be refiled.
The court papers do not state if a settlement was reached or if Hurwitz is not pursuing the case for other reasons. However, the attorneys filed joint papers on Aug. 8 with Scheper asking for a delay in the start of trial so they could engage in mediation. The judge denied the application two days later and said the scheduled trial date at the time would stand because she had granted a similar request in January. The plaintiff’s request for dismissal was then filed the next week.
Hurwitz alleged in his suit that WME had a conflict of interest because it produced the shows while also serving as Hurwitz’s agent. Hurwitz also alleged that WME put its interests ahead of his and engaged in constructive fraud, negligent misrepresentation, negligence, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and sought unspecified damages.
“This action stems from WME’s shocking conduct, whereby the talent agency sought to squeeze extra profit out of its client, the renowned composer Justin Hurwitz, behind his back in violation of its ethical and fiduciary duties to him,” the suit filed in January 2022 stated.
A WME representative issued a statement maintaining that Hurwitz’s claims lacked merit and that WME “intends to vigorously defend itself.”
Part of WME’s representation of Hurwitz included negotiating live-to-film performance opportunities for Hurwitz, in which the agency was obligated to act in the composer’s best interests, the suit stated.
“Yet, after Hurwitz won Academy Awards for best original score and best original song for `City of Stars’ for `La La Land,’ WME decided to monetize such live-to-film performances, not for Hurwitz, but for itself,” the suit states.
After convincing Hurwitz to spend months of work adapting his score into a live-to-film concert, WME “repeatedly lied about how much money they were set to make from the tour, convincing Hurwitz to accept a minimal piece of the pie,” the suit stated.
As each performance was booked, Hurwitz frequently requested to conduct upcoming sessions, but WME said there was not enough money to hire him, according to the suit.
“In fact, on the occasions Hurwitz was even offered the promised opportunity to conduct his own score, the amount of pay was actually constrained because WME and/or Endeavor Content was taking a fixed profit from every single `La La Land in Concert’ performance,” according to the suit.
The 38-year-old, Los Angeles-born Hurwitz is now represented by Creative Artists Agency.