The owners of Sports Illustrated on Monday stopped energy drink mogul Manoj Bhargava, whose foray into the media has been rife with turmoil and conflict, from paying millions of dollars for the rights to publish the iconic magazine. filed a complaint as
The 51-page lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Bhargava and his publishing company, Arena Group, infringed Sports Illustrated's copyrights and are seeking $48.75 million in back pay and damages. He says he has an obligation to pay USD. and trademarks.
The lawsuit is the latest in a dispute between Authentic Brands Group, which owns Sports Illustrated, and Mr. Bhargava, the founder of 5 Hour Energy Drink, who is seeking to take control of Sports Illustrated's parent company. It represents a public skirmish between Sports Illustrated, which has resulted in a series of lawsuits and turmoil in an attempt to seize control of Sports Illustrated's parent company. Sports publications.
Sports Illustrated is operated by New York-based sports media company Minit Media, which took the title from Arena Group last month by signing a new deal with the magazine's owners. After Arena Group fired a number of employees in January and threatened to end print editions of Sports Illustrated, Minute Media rehired some employees and threatened to discontinue publication of the magazine's print edition. promised to keep it alive.
Authentic Brands Group, the New York-based intellectual property firm that also owns the rights to celebrities such as Shaquille O'Neal and Marilyn Monroe, has repeatedly accused Mr. Bhargava of “choosing lawlessness” in his dealings with Sports Illustrated. ,” he said in the lawsuit. Willfully failed to pay the license fee for the magazine and interfered with the new operator.
“In less than five months, Bhargava's new venture not only failed and went up in flames, but SI almost went under with it,” the complaint says.
Arena Group and Mr. Bhargava did not respond to requests for comment.
Last year, Mr. Bhargava acquired ownership of Sports Illustrated publisher Arena Group and entered into a deal to buy out its debt, effectively taking control of the company. He then orchestrated the removal of the company's CEO, Ross Levinson, and installed his own executive, according to the complaint.
Relations between Authentic Brands Group and Arena Group quickly deteriorated. Arena Group had agreed to pay Authentic Brands Group $15 million annually for a license to publish the magazine. According to the complaint, Mr. Bhargava intentionally skipped that payment installment in January to reduce the magazine's operating costs. According to the complaint, he was also paid a $45 million termination fee when Authentic Brands Group revoked Arena's license for the magazine in February and threatened to “go nuclear” at the magazine's owners' demands. It is said that there was not.
According to the complaint, after Authentic Brands Group found Minute Media, a new publisher for Sports Illustrated, Arena Group shut down the Sports Illustrated-affiliated website and They allegedly interfered with the orderly transfer of data to Minute Media.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that Mr. Bhargava and Arena Group misappropriated Sports Illustrated's intellectual property and applied the logo to Mr. Bhargava-related sites without Authentic Brands Group's permission. According to the complaint, Arena Group issued a news release on 5-Hour Energy that was labeled as a Sports Illustrated editorial, damaging “the value and reputation of SI's brand and business.”
Bhargava already faces other lawsuits related to his relationship with Sports Illustrated. Former Arena Group executives, including Mr. Levinson, are suing Mr. Bhargava for a withholding of severance pay, punitive damages and legal costs.