Hollywood production company New Republic Pictures has been sued for $15 million over its ties to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, the Los Angeles Times reported. The ex-president of the New Republic claims that his contract was terminated when a Russian businessman stopped financing the company due to the threat of Western sanctions. Rybolovlev, according to him, in particular, “played a role” in financing the blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” with Tom Cruise
The former president of the Hollywood production company New Republic Pictures, Bradley Fisher, filed a lawsuit against its management, demanding damages in the amount of more than $15 million. writes the Los Angeles Times citing a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Fisher claims that New Republic terminated his contract without explanation in June 2022, when the Russian billionaire stopped funding the company. Dmitry Rybolovlev. Because of this, during negotiations to extend Fisher’s contract for another two years, the New Republic offered him less favorable terms, which he refused, the lawsuit says.
New Republic founder and CEO Brian Oliver interview with the Los Angeles Times stated in September 2020 that he created the company in 2017 thanks to funding from “wealthy individuals living in Monaco and Spain.” In his lawsuit, Fischer argues that it is largely about “financial support for the Russian oligarch and unspoken partner [компании] Dmitry Rybolovlev” lives in Monaco.
The billionaire, in particular, “played a role” in financing the Hollywood blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” starring Tom Cruise, the lawsuit says. “Rybolovlev has acted and is acting through a number of agents, affiliates and subsidiaries, including, in particular, his representative [главного операционного директора New Republic] Valeria Ana and a company called Amber US Subsidiary, LLC. Through these intermediaries, Rybolovlev exercised functional control over the New Republic at all relevant times,” the lawsuit alleges.
Rybolovlev’s money played a key role in the activities of the New Republic, but in March 2022, after the start of the Russian “military special operation” * in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions against a number of Russian businessmen, the billionaire “began to curtail his business operations in the West”, deciding, among other things, to “move away from film industry,” Fisher said. After that, New Republic began to demand that he give up rights that could “prevent the sale of the company or its assets,” the ex-president of the company said in the lawsuit.
The Los Angeles Times was unable to contact Rybolovlev, his representatives, the New Republic and Brian Oliver for comment.
IA “RBC”, 01/06/2023, “A company from Hollywood associated with Rybolovlev was sued”: Rybolovlev is the former owner of Uralkali. The businessman lives in Monaco. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Indexrating of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, at the moment he ranks 189th with a fortune of $ 10.1 billion. Rybolovlev owns Monaco football club and two islands in Greece, collects works of art. — Inset K.ru
*According to the requirement of Roskomnadzor, when preparing materials on a special operation in eastern Ukraine, all Russian media are required to use information only from official sources of the Russian Federation. We cannot publish materials in which the ongoing operation is called an “attack”, “invasion” or “declaration of war”, unless it is a direct quote (Article 57 of the Federal Law on the Media). In case of violation of the requirement, the media may be fined 5 million rubles, and the publication may also be blocked.