J.Lo Lowers Boom on Ex-Manager
Thu Jul 3, 3:15 PM ET Add Entertainment - E! Online to My Yahoo!
By Joal Ryan
Another messy divorce for Jennifer Lopez.
But this time, the ex is a powerhouse manager.
Weeks after cleaning house and firing the man credited with helping create her diva self, Lopez filed a petition with California's labor department (news - web sites) Wednesday, alleging the rep messed with her money and meddled in her career.
The big bottom line: Miss Money Train wants back all commissions paid to Benny Medina, plus 10 percent interest.
Lopez's attorney, Barry L. Hirsch, said he couldn't put a figure on the amount the actress is seeking--that's one of the reasons she's seeking a full accounting of Medina and his companies, he said--but it's, generally, in "the millions."
Medina, who struck it rich with TV's Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which he exec produced, is not in a giving-back mood.
"I just feel as though this reflects a real lack of gratitude and lack of grace," said Medina, reached Wednesday at the Los Angeles office of Handprint Entertainment, the management firm named in the petition along with Laughing Water Music.
Medina said the more he thought about Lopez's filing, the "more and more upset and concerned [he got] for her state of mind."
"Her state of mind is just fine," Hirsch said of Lopez Thursday. "She tried to settle this thing on numerous occasions...[T]he last thing she wanted was to settle this [dispute] this way. She was left with no alternative."
In a statement, Medina vowed to fight the multihyphenate's attempt to get a rebate on money he "earned by working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to make her a star," and categorized the petition as being full of "false allegations."
The crux of Lopez's complaint is the charge that Medina, who is not a licensed talent agent, nevertheless acted as a talent agent. Such action is a violation of California law.
Lopez says Medina, not her Hollywood agents, negotiated her deal for the upcoming ballroom romance movie, Shall We Dance?, with Richard Gere (news), and endorsed an endorsement pact with L'Oréal cosmetics.
The Out of Sight star also accuses Medina of putting money out of sight, "wrongly diverting or appropriating some of [her earnings]."
Medina, in a statement, called that allegation "both untrue and offensive."
"I have never misappropriated any money from Ms. Lopez or any client with whom I have worked," he said.
It was just weeks ago that Lopez and Medina, in true Hollywood divorce fashion, were wishing each other well.
"Benny did a wonderful job for me over the years, and I will be eternally grateful to him," Lopez said following her dismissal of Medina.
For his part, Medina said he wished Lopez "continued happiness and success in all of her pursuits."
On Wednesday, Medina said he and The Wedding Planner had been in talks of late to resolve their "outstanding business issues." Hirsch called the filing a "last resort."
"I had hoped not to have this be a public spectacle by any means," he said.
Lopez and Medina became a team back in 1998. During the next five years, she launched her pop-singing career, adopted the "J.Lo" moniker, attended the Grammys (news - web sites) in a career-making plunging neckline, and joined the $20 million paycheck club.
Despite the success, rumor had it that Lopez's A-list beau, Ben Affleck (news), lobbied for Medina's ouster, reportedly disliking "this diva image" the manager had cast for her.
But, according to Lopez's petition, it was the uncovering of Medina's allegedly unlawful management practices that did in their relationship.
In May, Lopez and Medina were jointly named as defendants in a $3 million-plus lawsuit filed by her Wedding Planning director. The pair was accused by the helmer of stealing his idea for a new big-screen Carmen. Per Barry Hirsch, the lawsuit was one of the tip-offs to Lopez that Medina was up to some allegedly un-funny business.
Lopez's camp also charges Medina complicated the actress' relationships with her agents. And, indeed, in June, her reps at Endeavor released a statement saying they "were no longer able to work with" Medina.
While Lopez did axe Medina, she also axed Endeavor. And to make her reputed image makeover complete, she dismissed her longtime publicist.
While the heads have stopped rolling, the blood keeps spilling. In her petition to California's Department of Industrial Relations, she seeks to void all outstanding deals between her and Medina.
And the fighting may not stop there. Medina confirmed a countersuit is one option he's considering.
"Ironically," Medina said, with a little laugh, "one of her biggest complaints [to me] had been a public perception that she was involved in [too much] litigious activity."