Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh is taking an aggressive approach to his celebrity publicity rights. He sued the mother of his children in May of this year because she agreed to appear on VH1’s TV show, “Basketball Wives,” even though the two had never been married. Details on defending celebrities’ publicity rights are available from a Los Angeles business litigation attorney.
In his lawsuit, Bosh claimed that Allison Mathis violated his trademark and publicity rights by Mathis’s decision to appear on “Basketball Wives.” He essentially claimed that her appearance on the show would take away from his own stardom and that she should not be able to use his name on the show.
Mathis never actually appeared on the show, as the company producing it decided against it at the last minute. The company’s decision may have come about as a result of Bosh’s lawsuit. His lawyers told the production company of binding agreements that Mathis had with Bosh that would prevent her from being on TV. Mathis has now countersued Bosh for at least $250,000, the amount that she estimates he cost her for causing her dismissal from the show. A Los Angeles business litigation lawyer is available to provide more advice on how publicity rights work for celebrities.