The widow of professional wrestler Owen Hart is suing World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon for using the wrestler's likeness.
Hart was 34 when he died after falling 78 feet while attempting to rappel from the top of Kemper Arena in Kansas City during a live pay-per-view event in 1999.
Martha Hart filed a lawsuit alleging the McMahons broke an
agreement with her to stop using Owen Hart's name and likeness as well
as footage of the "King of Harts" following his death. It's likely tied
to the release of a DVD featuring Owen Hart and the legendary Hart
family called Hart
& Soul: The Hart Family Anthology and the return of Bret
"Hit Man" Hart to the promotion for a
match with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania this past March.
In a statement, Martha Hart wrote:
"In the 11The lawsuit, filed in U.S.years since Owen's tragic and avoidable death, I have worked tirelessly
to disassociate Owen's name and likeness from anything related to WWE in
order to protect our children from any reminder of the circumstances
surrounding their father's death, and to avoid any misplaced perception
that I endorse WWE."
"Unfortunately, even though WWE, VinceMcMahon, Linda McMahon were and
are well aware of my wishes and desire to shield my children from WWE
and its activities, I was shocked to learn earlier this year that they
have been using Owen's name and likeness in videos, websites, television
programs and print materials. Given this callous, insensitive and
irresponsible behavior, one must question the moral character of Vince
and Linda McMahon and the manner in which
they conduct their business."
District Court in Hartford, accuses WWE and the McMahons of taking
"every available opportunity to further exploit Owen's personality for
their own commercial benefit. Their use of Owen's name and likeness
draws attention to the WWE's ongoing violent and highly questionable
theatrical activities that caused Owen's death."
Marth Hart wants
to prevent the WWE from using her husband's name and likeness and also
seeks "unpaid royalties as well as damages for breach of contract,
copyright infringement, unjust enrichment, accounting and unfair and
deceptive trade practices."
After the Kansas City stunt that killed her husband, Martha Hart sued WWE and later agreed
to an $18 million settlement.
Linda McMahon resigned as WWE's CEO
to run for Senate in Connecticut.
WWE returns to Kansas City on July 18 for a pay-per-view called "Money in the Bank," in which competitors fight with ladders in an attempt to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring.
Showing 1-5 of 5
Ya know, if it happened to have been my husband and the father of my children, I wouldn't want them shielded from this lifestyle at all...I would proudly display what he done for not only his family but for what he done as a professional wrestler! I think she's heartless really to want to keep him out the public eye as she can't see past her own selfishness to realize that Owen had and still has a lot of fans out here that loved and respected him as a person!
If you happen to be fortunate enough that you can have an entire wardrobe of sandals then you can choose sandals in colours to complement every one of your outfits.
78 feet?! Huh, watermelon hitting the sidewalk out of the 8 floor.....what's for dinner?
Oops - make that "publicity" and while we're at it, I think Justin meant "rappel" rather than repel.
I don't have much use for the McMahons, but it's pretty obvious the timing on this is meant to pressure them to settle quickly to avoid bad pulicity that might affect Linda's senatorial campaign. Why else would Hart wait until now to file?
like
dislike
