Not to be trite, but who didn’t love the Dog Pound during the original Arsenio Hall Show of the 1990’s? Unlike the banter Hall shared with past members of the Dog Pound, his current legal issues may be no laughing matter.
This week Paul Raff, a former freelancer for The Arsenio Hall Show filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California against Arsenio Hall, John Ferriter, CBS and Octagon. Raff is claiming fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment.
Raff, a seasoned television writer and former scribe for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was initially sought after and approached by executive producer and agent John Ferriter to write for the new Arsenio Hall Show in 2012. According to the lawsuit, during his initial meeting with Hall, Raff was promised a head writer position on the series.
It was also during that initial meeting that Raff agreed to appoint Ferriter as his exclusive agent (which could have posed a conflict of interest since Ferriter was also Hall’s agent). A formal agreement was never executed so all the parties apparently operated on an oral agreement.
Raff ended up taking a freelance job writing, producing and directing clips for Hall’s website. Although it was a freelance job, Ferriter promised that the job would dovetail into pre-production. Raff completed five clips for the website but failed to shoot more because according to the lawsuit, “Hall was lazy and afraid of failure.” Subsequently Raff was never hired as a full-time staff writer for the series.
According to the lawsuit, Raff has been unemployed since June 2013. He claims he has suffered and will continue to suffer profound pain, emotional distress, anxiety, depression and sleeplessness. Because Raff forewent other employment in reliance on the promise that he would eventually be offered a permanent full-time position as a writer for The Arsenio Hall Show, he is also seeking monetary damages for lost wages, earnings and income. It is also worth noting that he is also seeking expenses for psychiatric counseling and treatment. Overall, he is seeking a total of $2 million in damages.
Because a formal agreement was never executed, Raff will have some difficulties proving all these claims. Moreover, if every writer in Hollywood filed a lawsuit over broken dreams and empty promises, the entire entertainment industry would be deemed inoperable. Perhaps this lawsuit is indeed on par with the Dog Pound jokes of past….
Jaia Thomas is a sports and entertainment attorney. For more information: www.jathomaslaw.com or @jaiathomaslaw.